


Episode 25 - The Gravity of the Situation

by stgjr



Series: "The Power of a Name" Series 3 - "Time Lord Penitent" [18]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Mass Effect, Multi-Fandom
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Multiple Crossovers, Multiverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-09 08:47:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11101071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stgjr/pseuds/stgjr
Summary: Our narrator goes to Thessia for a drink and finds a mysterious alien invasion going on instead.  Which is about normal for him, unfortunately.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on February 27th, 2015.

Being the Doctor doesn't always end up in facing down alien monsters or megalomaniacal conquerors. Sometimes, you find a way to do smaller things. Smaller, but no less important for the people you're helping.  
  
I stood beside the bed and carefully checked the helmet I'd placed over the head of the lifeless figure laying on it. Well, okay, lifeless was perhaps not the right term. Technically, the figure was alive. Biologically. Had been for a while. She was just... how should I put this... waiting for the spark to turn biological life into sentient life.  
  
I looked over at the young couple standing beside the computer I was using as part of this process. "Information transfer ready," I said aloud. "The body is stable. The safety memory is online for backups. We're ready."  
  
"Are you sure this will work?", the young lady asked, holding hands with her dark-haired beau. He was monitoring the computer as well and it was his keyboard that would make the final keystroke. "She'll be... okay?"  
  
"Oh, she'll be fine," i assured her. "I've quadruple-checked all of this stuff. Don't worry about a thing. Whenever you're ready."  
  
The redhead looked knowingly to the young man. He took her hand and said, "It'll be all right. I'm sure this will work too. Do you want to hit the key together?"  
  
He was answered by a nod. He put his hand on the control mouse and she laid her hand over his. They moved it together to the confirmation command on the screen and their fingers clicked together.  
  
I remained silent as I used the sonic screwdriver to ascertain the transfer of data. It happened quite quickly. And thanks to the algorithms I'd made and the high-speed, high capacity data transfer cables I'd rigged together, the data in question transferred quite swiftly. After about half a minute the helmet's lights flashed green and disengaged, showing it had successfully completed the download and shut down. I stood and watched patiently.  
  
The body stirred in the bed. Slowly the arms came up and two small hands gripped the helmet and pulled it off, revealing the face of a little girl with long dark hair and, when she opened them to show, equally dark eyes. She squinted. For the first time those eyes were viewing light, indeed, the first time that body's senses were truly operating, and the first time the little girl had actually felt the use of organic senses. She blinked several times and sat up on the bed. Her movements were stiff as she turned in the bed to face the side and to look on the couple directly. Her eyes blinked again and... yes, tears formed in them. "Mommy?", the little girl asked, her voice the high-pitched sound you'd expect for a child. "Daddy?"  
  
I could hear the sniffling from the young red-haired woman, who moved up and embraced the little girl. "Yui. I can't believe it."  
  
"Mommy!" The little girl wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. "Daddy!" The young man took his turn in holding her close. "I'm here with you now! I can always be with you!"  
  
I let my hearts melt at the tearful embraces and happy talk and waited until they reformed before I spoke up. "I'd like to run a few scans on Yui just to be on the safe side. Asuna, Kazuto... or is it Kirito?" I gave him a quizzical look. "I'm not sure how that whole online handle thing works outside of the VR world?"  
  
"Kazuto is fine," he answered. "Real life names for real world conversations."  
  
"Ah." I nodded. I held up the sonic screwdriver. "I'm happy to say that I see no problems with Yui's implantation into the body." I sat down on the bed next to her and ran the sonic screwdriver around her, the purple tip active and whirring. "Heart rate normal, brainwave patterns normal. Tissues working normally." I turned the sonic off and tapped her playfully on the nose with its tip. "Well, Yui, you've become the picture of health as a young girl, biologically around seven years of age. A very precocious seven, I grant." I put the sonic screwdriver back in my jacket pocket. "How do you feel, young lady?"  
  
I wasn't too stunned to find Yui putting her arms around my neck in a tight hug. "Thank you Doctor," she said cheerily. "Thank you so much! I get to be with Mommy and Daddy in the real world now!"  
  
Another pair of arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a tight hug. "Oh thank you, Doctor," Asuna wept, unable to keep her happiness from her voice or the tears of joy from flowing from her brown eyes. "I don't even know _how_ this was possible..."  
  
"Well, it was a bit of effort," I admitted, not remarking on the sensation of getting my ribs crushed. For someone who spent two years physically comatose from her mind being trapped in a Virtual Reality MMO, Asuna had a bit of strength now. "But when it comes down to it was just adopting some Cylon biological body design work and mixing in a bit of Layom Station technology and some pieces from other sources. No real difficulty, young lady."  
  
Once that hug had ended, Kazuto and Asuna hugged their daughter together. The child wasn't biologically theirs of course; they were teenagers. Rather, during their time stuck in the aforementioned VR MMO, they had come upon Yui, the embodiment of the game's psychological counseling and assistance AI. One locked out by the main control system of the game by the sociopathic maniac who'd locked ten thousand people in a game that killed about two out of every five players by the end. The poor AI had endured years of seeing the players she was programmed to empathize with and give comfort too slide into despair and terror. As she had explained it before the operation, when I was linked with her and setting up the systems, Kazuto - Kirito - and Asuna had fallen together in the game and their friendship-turned-romance had drawn her to their happiness like a light-starved moth to flame.  
  
It was a bit of a long story, with some disturbing bits, but it ended well. And now I had given it a happy coda. Yui was no longer going to be alone when her Mommy and Daddy were doing things in the real world. She would be right there with them. Going on picnics. Walks in the park. Or what have you.  
  
It was... rather heartening to think that even in all of the death and trauma seen in that whole "Sword Art Online" game fiasco, happiness was still found. That's Humanity for you. Humans can find the light in any darkness. Sometimes they can do it without looking.  
  
Oh look, I'm being philosophical.  
  
Anyway, I dealt with something in my eye and excused myself to allow the young couple and their little girl to begin this new, unexpected chapter in their lives as a family.  
  
Always something in my eye with these things, I swear.  
  
  
  
  
A short time later I was in the TARDIS. I'd connected a secure terminal into the world wide internet of this cosmos' Earth and propagated some code into it to find and attach to all of the VRMMOs that had spread based on the common template that Kirito had put online. Just a little... guarantee. To prevent something like that from ever happening again, at least on the software end.  
  
When I was done I took a look around the TARDIS and sighed. It was good to be traveling again. To be the Doctor again. To... to be past all of that grief and pain that started with losing Katherine and continued on through the Time Lord Triumphant and my horrible mistakes. Not that I didn't still hurt from it. I did. But I had put it behind me.  
  
But it didn't change the fact that I was lonely.  
  
Oh, I had friends. I could drop in on a series of different people. But nobody wanted to travel. They had things in their own lives to follow, no room for adventure and exploration with a madman in a box. Nobody teeming with the need to see what was out here. Believe me, I'd offered. I'd tried. Instead, all I got was a reminder of how alone I was whenever I saw my friends working together. Jan and Cami. Harry and Karrin and Molly. Crono and Marle and Lucca. Korra and Asami. Kim and Ron. Now I could even add Kirito - or Kazuto I suppose - and Asuna to that list. With cute little Yui.  
  
Okay, despite my loneliness I grinned again. That AI-turned-little-girl was just so hearts-meltingly _adorable_.  
  
I remembered thinking in irritation that there was more important stuff to do than to sit around and mope. I needed to keep traveling. I'd find someone in my travels. It was inevitable.  
  
I just wondered how much longer it'd be.  
  
I began pondering destinations. But again... what point was there? I could go to the Amethyst Cliffs of Jeli or the Emerald RIngs of Junimapalanitora and it wouldn't really change much. They were pretty, but seeing pretty things just wasn't as fun as it was with someone along for the first time. Seeing the eyes of my Companions widen as they beheld something new, perhaps something they'd never imagined.... it was always so... so... inspiring. So _fun_.  
  
Alright, I knew what to do. I needed a sympathetic ear. Someone not afraid to talk and not afraid to kick my Time Lord arse into gear for being mopey.  
  
And someone who could serve a mean drink.  
  
I set my coordinates and went to the TARDIS door. I expected a beautiful sight before me. Marred by remnant damage from a massive war, true, but still beautiful. The majestic spires of Thessia awaited, as well as the little bar where Matriarch Aethyta handed out liquor to Multiverse-weary Time Lords.  
  
I could smell the burning bodies as I stepped out of the TARDIS.  
  
Thessia was on fire.  
  
My first thought was that I'd gone to the wrong time. That I had come during the Reaper War and that I needed to get out of here before I messed with history that had to remain intact for my fateful meeting on the Citadel. But a quick check of the horizon showed no Reapers stomping through the burning city. It was just burning. Faint dots that were obviously aerospace or aerial craft were moving about in the sky. I could make out small explosions of flame.  
  
One of them started to grow. A lot.  
  
"Oh bugger!", i cried out. I dove back into the TARDIS. It was the only reason I didn't get blown to bits.  
  
I tried to raise the defenses, but I was too late to get them all up. The TARDIS shook violently under me from the explosion outside. Consoles sparked and went dead. And then from the fall. The explosion had blown away the ground and sent the TARDIS plummeting into the sewers and underground lines below. I held on for dear life until the shaking stopped and got over to the control panel. A quick check told me the worst. Engines were out, defenses barely active, communications out. I was deaf, blind, and crippled. The only thing I had going for me was the cloaking system still being operational.  
  
I sighed. It looked like I would have to deal with this the old-fashioned way. So I put the TARDIS into invisible camouflage mode and headed out into the sewers of Thessia.  
  
I was going to find out who or what was attacking Thessia and _why_.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
I won't torment you with the sights and smells of the sewers. As graceful and beautiful and all that as the Asari always looked, they still had to do basic biological functions, and that meant the miasma I had to walk around. And, I'm afraid to say, through.  
  
The life of a dimension-hopping Time Lord wasn't always glamorous, I'm afraid to say.  
  
With the sonic I was sweeping for life signs, mass effect energy sources, that kind of thing. With time and patience I hoped to find an exit or more survivors or something. And then the questions could begin.  
  
I had been searching for about half an hour when I saw a life sign. A small one. I walked toward it and was further guided by the sniffling. That's always easy to hear, yet never easy, if you get my drift.  
  
The Asari was a child, maybe five years old by comparison with Humans. She was hunched in the corner and crying to herself in the darkness. I used the sonic to generate light. "Well, hello there," I said carefully, softly. When that got no immediate answer I got closer. I gently settled a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Now, what's..."  
  
I barely got the chance to finish that sentence. The little girl jumped with a start and pulled away from me, screaming in fright. Energy swirled around her; the latent biotics of an Asari could do that with the untrained. But she lacked the control or training to apply that energy violently, otherwise I would have probably taken a biotic blast to the face. She turned and stared at me with wide and terrified blue eyes. "Human," she finally said. "You're Human?"  
  
"Well.... sort of," I conceded.  
  
"Are you a Human soldier?"  
  
I nodded. "I see. Well, I'm not a soldier, but I do try to help. Are you lost?"  
  
The little girl nodded. "I'm scared."  
  
"Ah. Well, don't feel bad, I am too." I offered her my hand. "So how about we travel together and find help? We can talk on the way?"  
  
The little girl considered my offered hand tentatively. She finally accepted. "What's your name?", I asked her.  
  
"Aylia."  
  
"Ah. That's a lovely name."  
  
"What's yours?", she asked.  
  
I smiled gently at her. "I'm the Doctor," I said. "I mean, that's my name. Just like Aylia is yours."  
  
The child nodded. It was interesting, i suppose; I had just gone from dealing with one child and now I was dealing with another.  
  
We worked our way toward the upper portions of the sewer system. In the distance I could hear the occasional boom of explosions. The attack wasn't letting up. The Asari planetary defenses, what was left of them anyway, were still putting up a fight. "Did you see who attacked?" I asked Aylia. She shook her head and I nodded. "Well, I imagine we'll find out shortly enough..."  
  
  
  
  
Our progress led us to an underground sewage control station. And there we found more Asari. There were dozens, at least, of many ages, running around or walking about, tending to things. My eyes scanned the entirety of the station and noticed the line of shroud-covered bodies toward the northern entrance.  
  
I don't like to think about how many of those shrouds were covering figures no bigger than Aylia. Two even had Asari sitting over them in clear bereavement.  
  
Just after I stepped in a young Asari, a maiden probably no more older in relative terms than a Human thirteen year old, stuck a shotgun in my face. "Who are you?!" she demanded.  
  
"Lamia, put that down!", another voice called out. An older Asari woman wearing combat armor stomped up and grabbed the gun from the young girl. She looked to me and her eyes widened. "Oh... I.... I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were coming."  
  
"Hrm?"  
  
"Doctor, it is so good to see you," the woman said. "And an honor. I feel better about this situation already."  
  
"Ah. I do apologize." I nodded. "I'm trying to place the face."  
  
"You wouldn't know me," the Asari answered. "I'm Lieutenant T'Goni. I was on the Citadel as part of Councilor Tevos' honor guard at the end of the Reaper Invasion. I... watched you and Commander Shepard join the Citadel Council in speaking with the species that were liberated from the Reaper control systems." She looked at me with open admiration. "It's an honor to finally meet you, Doctor."  
  
"The honor is mine, Lieutenant," I answered. I settled a hand on my little compatriot. "This is Aylia. I found her alone in the sewer system."  
  
T'Goni made a motion with her hand and a medic ran over seconds later. She started examining little Aylia who gripped my hand like a vise. "She's got several cuts and abrasions."  
  
"She was most likely at the furthest extent of an explosion," I remarked.  
  
"I can take her to the other children," the medic volunteered.  
  
Aylia shook her head. "I wanna be with the Doctor," she said.  
  
I smiled gently and gave her a pat on the head. "Young lady, I understand. But you also need to have someone take care of you. And I have to go do my job now."  
  
"What is that?" Aylia asked, suspicious.  
  
I winked. "I'm going to save the world, of course. It's what I do."  
  
"But you said you weren't a soldier," Aylia protested.  
  
"I'm not." I winked. "I'm a Time Lord. Bit of a difference. Now, please Aylia... please go let this nice woman check you up, wouldn't want you getting sick from that muck putting an infection in your cuts, would we? Being sick is never fun."  
  
Aylia shook her head. "No it isn't, I can't play when I'm sick."  
  
"And that would be horrible, right?"  
  
"Uh huh." Aylia nodded energetically and let go of my hand. The medic smiled at her and led her away for treatment.  
  
I looked back to Lieutenant T'Goni. "Any idea on the attacker?"  
  
"It all happened so fast," T'Goni sighed. "They just attacked us out of the blue. There was no warning. It's like they appeared right inside the system without using the mass relay."  
  
I frowned. That sounded suspicious to me. Could it be renegade ex-Reaper ships? There was no telling how well they were being policed. And the ones that decided to leave the galaxy might have changed their mind.  
  
"It's not the Reapers,, either," T'Goni continued. "They're not using the same weapons or the same tactics."  
  
"Then someone else. Hrm." I held up the sonic. "Do you have a connection to the planetary internet?"  
  
"Communications were one of the first things to go down," T'Goni answered. "We're gathered around a matriarch that was in the city on personal business, she got us down here."  
  
Ah. I smiled a little. Aethyta knew how to deal with a crisis. "Well, I'd like to see her."  
  
"Right this way."  
  
She led me to an upper level of the control station. A display showed the city's sewer system and from the lighting it had some damage to it. A single figure was flanked by other figures. "Matriarch..."  
  
"I heard," a voice said, and not the one I had expected. The chair turned and the Asari matriarch seated in it appraised me with cold eyes. "You always love to show up when things go to hell, Doctor," Aria T'Loak said coldly. "But I can use the help. And since Commander Shepard isn't here, you'll have to do."  
  
I crossed my arms at the Pirate Queen of Omega. "Ah, well, I'm afraid you have the advantage on me, Aria. May I ask just what you have in mind?"  
  
"Simple. You're going to do your thing and I'll do mine." She scowled. "You help me figure out how to deal with these sons of bitches attacking my homeworld, and my people will handle the rest."  
  
  
  
  
I admit I wasn't enthused to see Aria T'Loak. The woman is territorial and violent, indeed, quite brutal in many respects. she wasn't the kind of person I wanted involved in a delicate situation.  
  
That's not to say she wasn't capable, of course. In general, bandit queens with one foot in statehood tend to require at least some diplomacy and pragmatism, and Aria had those. She wouldn't be impossible to work with.  
  
Which is quite fine since, when it came down to it, I didn't have much of a choice in the matter.  
  
"So the attack commenced this morning?", I asked. I was looking at Aria and, beside her, a map of the capital of Thessia. "There was no warning?"  
  
"None. They didn't use the mass relay, that's not disputed." Aria frowned and tapped the screen. "Communications went out first. The entire extranet went down within moments of the first attacks. Our forces are cut off and divided." She clenched a fist. "The Reapers did so much damage that Thessia's defenses are weak these days. Everything's being put into rebuilding. And now someone is knocking it all down again."  
  
"I had thought you cared more for Omega these days."  
  
"I _do_ , make no mistake of that, Doctor." Aria looked back at me with intense eyes. "But that doesn't change the fact that Thessia is my homeworld, and even if I think the Republics' Matriarchs are a bunch of stuck-up bitches it doesn't mean I don't care about what happens. My people have suffered enough."  
  
There was a tight look in her eyes. She seemed almost... tired.  
  
"I'm actually rather more surprised you were on Thessia in the first place," I admitted.  
  
"I had business to attend to." Her vocie was curt and short. She glared daggers at me. " _Personal business_."  
  
"Ah." I nodded. "Alright. So, this attacker knocked out global communications and has presumably landed by now."  
  
"We know they have." Aria held up a digital pad and I accepted it. Looking it over, it was reports from T'Goni's subordinates. "We just don't know what they're up to."  
  
"Hrm... rounding up of civilians, but no executions?" I pondered it. "They want prisoners for something. Hostages, labor..."  
  
"I don't care." Aria stood from her seat. Her hand went to the sub-machine gun she had kept by her chair. "We're going to stop it. You and I are going to the surface."  
  
"Ah." I narrowed my eyes at her firearm, but I kept my peace. I get tetchy around firearms sometimes. Usually when they're in the hands of someone who stands a reasonable chance of shooting me. And I knew Aria might do just that if she felt it necessary. "Well, you and I have similar goals, so yes, we shall work together on this. Just remember that I'm not one of your hirelings."  
  
Aria smiled thinly. "Fair enough." She walked past me and to the door. Before she got to it, she added, "Just remember that if you do anything to screw this up, I'll shoot you."  
  
My face curled into a half-grin. No, there was nothing surprising about this at all.  
  
  
  
  
Lieutenant T'Goni and two squads of the armed Asari from the control station joined us in heading to the surface. We didn't go straight out, however, but remained at the highest level of the sewer and moved along its tunnels and maintenance tubes. I had my sonic active to scan for signs of life. An omnitool occasionally flashed to life over T'Goni's forearm. "I've got people coming this way," she said.  
  
Aria nodded. She walked over to a drainage opening and looked up through it. "And we're almost to the cover of the Natitia building. We'll get out there and set up an ambush."  
  
I nodded, for all the good that did. This was one of those things I suspected Aria would run herself. I left her to that and scanned for anything out of the ordinary. My sonic screwdriver didn't pick up anything directly. There were some telltale traces of something... off, though. But I couldn't get a fix on them.  
  
We emerged into the Natitia Building. It looked like it had been a combination of commercial and residential spaces. Our point of emergence was an internal courtyard and access hatch within. High above us a bit of sunlight came through ruined roof and flooring. The angle wasn't right to see us from any orbital surveillance, a small favor indeed. Inside the courtyard the storefronts and businesses were vacant. Holographic signs flickered in and out of view from the intermittent power. A familiar smell of decay made it clear just what was under some of the rubble that had fallen from above.  
  
"There are bodies here," T'Goni reported to Aria. "At least six."  
  
Aria's expression remained cold. "Any of theirs?"  
  
"No ma'am."  
  
"Well." She scowled. "We'll change that soon enough. Follow me."  
  
Aria led us to a second floor balcony that overlooked the avenue moving along the north of the building. From here I could see the havoc wrought. The dead bodies still in the streets. The Asari had suffered grievously under the Reaper onslaught, and now they were suffering again. But from whom? Certainly some of the races of the galaxy might have grudges against them for the whole Prothean beacon business, or their refusal to support Shepard's anti-Reaper efforts during that conflict. But the Citadel carried authority across the galaxy these days. Who would risk their wrath for vengeance like this? Even the former Reapers were, to me, a questionable source for the attack; the other ex-Reapers would certainly have acted to restrain them.  
  
Unless they were all in it together. If they had decided to seize the galaxy anyway.... if Shepard and I had been wrong about them.... I shuddered to imagine. Even my disabling of their most powerful weapon emplacements would still leave them formidable adversaries for the races of this cycle.  
  
"Here they come," Aria whispered. "Get ready."  
  
I pulled my spyglass out and looked in the same direction as Aria. I saw movement come around the rubble that had mostly blocked off a nearby roadway. The people coming were Asari, of varying shades of blue, all looking haggard and a number clearly injured. Children too. I clenched my jaw and read their body language. They were prisoners being marched to an unknown fate.  
  
Some of the faces.... they'd suffered this before. They had been the lucky ones, too. The ones the Reapers had marched into the extermination camps. And now the nightmare was repeating itself.  
  
I closed my eyes for a moment, if just to keep the tears from forming. All of this suffering. Why? Why was this happening?  
  
"There they are."  
  
I looked back out of the spyglass toward the approaching Asari. With the zoom feature I was able to close in on the forms escorting the captives on the march.  
  
I saw them. And I felt my mouth go dry.  
  
I found myself whispering, "It's not possible". Which was wrong, of course. It was possible. And I knew it. But... at this scale? Enough to do this?  
  
Aria's voice was firm. "You know who they are, don't you?"  
  
"I don't understand how..." I began.  
  
Her hand grabbed my shoulder and I whirled around. She grabbed a fistful of my shirt and pulled me close. "Who. Are. They?", Aria asked in cold, simple tones. She didn't have to brandish her gun to make it clear that refusal to comply would end up with me being shot.  
  
I swallowed and gave my answer.  
  
"Sontarans."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Sontarans," I repeated. "They're a military species made up of clones. Their sole existence revolves around war."  
  
"So... they're like Krogans?", one of the other Asari asked.  
  
"More like Turians," I replied. "If the Turians were made up entirely of clones who cared about nothing but waging war."  
  
"So where are they from?" Aria released her grip on me. "I've never heard of this species existing in the Terminus Systems and I'm damn sure they're not from Citadel space."  
  
"No, they're not. They're not from your galaxy. They're not from your cosmos. They're from _mine_."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"The Sontarans are from _my_ cosmos, Aria," I said. "They're from the same cosmos my species comes from. And there's only one way they could have gotten here." I looked up. "There's a Crack in the dimensions somewhere on Thessia."  
  
Aria stared at me. "So you're saying these aliens are from wherever _you_ came from?"  
  
"Yes," I said. Although it wasn't true. But at the time... well, I was a Time Lord. Gallifrey was my homeworld, no matter what origin I really had. So it was all pretty much the truth to me in every way that mattered.  
  
"Then what are they doing on Thessia?"  
  
"I haven't the foggiest idea," I answered. I turned around again and brought the spyglass back up. There were at least a dozen Sontarans in full body armor but without helmets, standing "open-skinned" as they would call it. They were shorter than the assembled Asari, but I knew they were very strong, and with their firearms, even civilian biotics wouldn't fare well against them. I swept the spyglass up and down the column of captives to double check my count of Sontarans. "Ten, eleven, twelve... okay, thirteen and fourteen. Oi, this is bad."  
  
"We can open up with biotic attacks," Aria said to the others. "Make your shots count."  
  
I almost voiced a protest against Aria's plan. But I caught my voice as my spyglass moved over a couple of the Asari in the group. "Oh no," I muttered to myself.  
  
Aethyta was in their midst, wounded and limping along with help.  
  
"Liara," I muttered, seeing the young Asari (well, young by Asari standards anyway) helping her father along. Yes, father. Asari consider the parent who didn't give birth the father regardless of actual biological gender. Which didn't apply to Asari anyway. There was a large purple-violet bruise on her forehead and another on a shoulder visible from damage to her plain Asari jumpsuit.  
  
I hadn't worked with the good Doctor T'Soni very much. But I knew her enough to consider her a friend. And I knew how much it would hurt Shepard to lose her. I looked at her relative position in the column and at the guards again. I lowered the spyglass and noticed Aria and her people taking firing positions. My mind did the calculations. I crawled over to Aria and hissed, "You're going to get your people caught in the crossfire."  
  
"Probably." Aria gave me a cold look. "But I'm not leaving them to whatever these 'Sontarans' have in mind, Doctor."  
  
"There's got to be another way," I insisted.  
  
"You have a plan, go ahead and tell me." Aria motioned to the others a signal to prepare. The column was entering range soon.  
  
I quickly took stock of the situation. If Aria's people were good enough shots, and if their ammunition could penetrate the Sontaran armor, they would probably take down half of the Sontarans in the first five seconds of the ambush. But that would leave about half a dozen to shoot back. And anything could happen in a crossfire.  
  
There had to be another way. Some way to disable their weapons, or confuse the Sontarans enough to give Aria's people a better line of fire that wouldn't risk the captives....  
  
And the idea occurred to me. It might just work. Or, well... it might get me blown away by the Sontarans. And I had no regenerations, I remind you, so I was extra leery.  
  
But I didn't know if I could look Shepard or any of the other _Normandy_ crew in the eyes again if I let fear and inaction cause Liara's death.  
  
"Actually," I began to say, "I do. Wait for my signal."  
  
I promptly scurried away from the balcony, heading to the nearest stairs. I rushed down those stairs, ran down the hallways between businesses, and got to the point under the balcony just as the column was entering close range. Aria would be about to fire regardless of my request, so I had to act fast.  
  
I gripped my sonic disruptor and stepped out of cover to face the approaching column. The Sontarans responded to my presence by changing their relative positions. The guards along the side moved up and at least four went ahead of the captives, weapons coming up to point at me. I made no threatening gestures and smiled. "Hello!", I said aloud. "I'd say it was a pleasant day for a stroll, but the scenery's a little too rubbley for my preference!"  
  
"You!" One of the Sontarans stepped up from the rest of the guard, making it five that were facing me. "In the name of the Sontaran Empire, I order you to identify yourself or be destroyed!"  
  
Well, you know how I had to react to that.  
  
"Me?" I smiled. "I'm the Doctor. Now, would you mind telling me what all this is about?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our narrator joins Aria T'Loak and Dr. Liara T'Soni in opposing the Sontaran invasion of Thessia even as he ponders what the Sontarans are up to.

There was a moment of silence from the assembled Sontarans. Their captives were looking on in bewilderment with some traces of hope. I looked into their number and briefly made eye contact with Liara. She nodded quietly and I kept my smile from changing. She knew something of what I was up to.  
  
"Identify yourself more thoroughly, Human" the Sontaran sergeant demanded, lifting his weapon toward my head. "'Doctor' is a title found in other species."  
  
"It is," I agreed. "I'm the reason why."  
  
"Sir." One of the other Sontarans looked over from the scanner he held in his hand. "Life scan readings show that this is not a Human. He is registering as a..." The Sontaran looked rather shocked. "...a Time Lord."  
  
"Time Lord? But that's..." A look of realization came over the sergeant's face. He looked back to me. "This is an enemy of the Sontaran Empire! Execute him now!"  
  
By the time he was saying that the first rank was already shooting at me. And I already had my sonic disruptor up with a defensive screen. Blasts struck the deflector screen while I scrambled for cover behind a pillar. "Any time, Aria," I muttered.  
  
"Sontar ha!", the sergeant cried, leading the front rank up to outflank my hiding place.  
  
The tell-tale sound of mass effect driver firearms erupted above us. Aria and Lieutenant T'Goni directed the fire of their squad on the vanguard of the Sontaran guards first. Their first shots were single shot bursts. Sparks erupted from the shaved material rounds of their weapons ripping into the Sontaran body armor and hitting the flesh beneath. I couldn't see more as I had to duck my head back so it didn't get shot, but I could hear bodies hitting the floor.  
  
"Assume defensive positions!", the sergeant called out. "We are under..."  
  
Liara's voice interrupted him. "Biotic fields, now!"  
  
With my deflector protecting me I peeked around the corner again. Liara had left her father in the care of another captive and joined several other younger Asari in generating a large biotic dome around them. The Sontarans opened fire on the field and the first shots were absorbed by the biotic energy. But they couldn't sustain that forever.  
  
They didn't need to. "Fire everything, now!", I heard Aria cry out.  
  
"Oh bugger," I mumbled, returning to cover.  
  
Assault rifle fire began to erupt from above me. Without the worry of mowing down their fellow Asari, Aria and her people were clear to open up with everything they had. With their advantage of height, the cover the Sontarans sought proved insufficient. One after another they went down, save the sergeant and one of his men who found a high enough covering to avoid the fire.  
  
Aria was not to be denied, however. Under their cover fire she stood up on the balcony and jumped down. Biotic energy gathered around her as she landed, absorbing the force of the drop, and with a growl in her throat she charged at the Sontaran defensive position. Her hand whipped out and biotic energy erupted from it, smashing into the rubble protecting the Sontarans and blasting it away. She brought up the sub-machine gun in her hand and struck down the sergeant with a burst of shots that included hitting him in the head. The other Sontaran was shot repeatedly by the squad still on the balcony above.  
  
I drew in a breath and looked over the scene of dead Sontarans and stunned Asari. Before I could speak, Aria stabbed a finger toward the Natitia building. "Everyone get inside, now."  
  
The command jolted the former captives to action. They began moving fairly quickly to take shelter in the damaged building. I walked up beside Aria, who was kneeling beside one of the fallen Sontarans. I brought out the sonic screwdriver but I had already recognized the fact he was still alive. "A survivor."  
  
"I was hoping for one." Aria grabbed the Sontaran by his armor's helmet seal and held him up. I took him by the arm and helped her carry him into the cover of the Natitia building. When we were safely under the ceiling Aria elbowed me aside and glared at the Sontaran's face. "What the hell are you doing on Thessia?"  
  
"I am a Sontaran. I will not cooperate with the enemy," was the reply.  
  
Biotic energy flashed in Aria's free hand. She drove it into the Sontaran. His body tensed up with pain from the warp effect's toll on his body's molecular structure. But there was no scream or any full sign to show he was suffering. I shook my head. "Sontarans don't show pain to the enemy. They consider it a dishonor."  
  
Aria looked at me with clear contempt on her face. "Oh really? Well, let's see how long that lasts..."  
  
Before I could act she sent another warp effect into his body. There was still no reaction. "There's no bloody point in this!", I shouted. "That's not how they work! You don't need to torture him!"  
  
When Aria refused to heed me, I grabbed her wrist before she could put another warp effect into him. "Let go," she growled coldly. "Let go before I shoot you."  
  
"Torture isn't going to solve anything, and I know you're pragmatic enough to understand that," I retorted. "But I can access his personal systems and get answers."  
  
Aria stared daggers at me. Her intense blue eyes were cold and full of malice. "Fine," she finally spat. "But if you don't get results..."  
  
I ignored her threat and used the sonic screwdriver to access the Sontaran's personal device. "They're advance scouts of the 9th Sontaran Battle Fleet," I said. "Looks like this is a scouting mission."  
  
"Really?" Aria laughed harshly. "A scouting mission? A scouting mission is overrunning Thessia?"  
  
"Yes," I answered. "The Sontarans are an enormously powerful species, Aria. Don't expect every cosmos to have a similar interstellar power scale to your own." I looked back to the device. "It looks like the scouts included a company of Sontaran engineers. They're... that's odd."  
  
"What?"  
  
"They're constructing something in the heart of the city," I said. "They need the Asari for this for some reason."  
  
"Why?", Aria asked the Sontaran.  
  
The Sontaran was struggling to reach something on his gauntlet when Aria and I looked back. I noticed it before she did and my eyes widened. "Suicide charge! Run!" I grabbed Aria by the arm and pulled her away from the Sontaran.  
  
We might not have made it in time, but just before the Sontaran exploded a powerful biotic field settled over us. The force of the blast still overpowered it and knocked us off our feet, but the field absorbed enough of the energy of the blast to save our lives. Dust and debris coated us as we struggled to our feet.  
  
Liara was also getting back to her feet. "Are you okay?", she asked.  
  
"Never... better," I said, interrupted by the involuntary cough from the dust trying to enter my throat. I waved my free hand to try and get it away from my nose and mouth. I looked down at the Sontaran device. The screen was blackened and charred. "Suicide charge sent a command signal to overload," I sighed.  
  
"Well, that was useful," Aria muttered. She glared at me. "If you hadn't stopped me from interrogating him..."  
  
"...he would have blown you up," I countered. "The Sontarans aren't like any species you've dealt with, Aria, your methods aren't going to work."  
  
Aria bit back whatever reaction she had and looked to Liara. "Hello, Shadow Broker."  
  
Liara had her best poker face on. "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about."  
  
"Please." Aria crossed her arms. "With all the information brokers on Illum, you don't think I wouldn't find out about a Spectre and mercenaries trying to kill you at the offices of an astrographical mapping company and that, shortly thereafter, the Shadow Broker's orders began to change? Or about how a Drell that I knew had betrayed him was suddenly acting as an agent of the Broker?" She smirked. "The moment I heard Shepard was involved I knew the Broker had gone down and been replaced. Most of the underworld know about the old Broker being gone, they just haven't put two and two together about you."  
  
Liara's expression didn't change. "A very interesting theory, Aria."  
  
"There are other matters at hand, I will point out," I said. "We still need to find out what exactly the Sontarans are up to."  
  
"We'll discuss that when we get back to the control station underground," Aria answered. She walked away from us and began giving orders to T'Goni's squad.  
  
I looked to Liara. "I'm surprised to see you here," I said. "I would have thought you were still on the Normandy."  
  
"I needed time," she answered.  
  
"Oh? For what?"  
  
"For... private thoughts." She extended a hand. "How are you feeling, Doctor?"  
  
"Better than I have in a long while," I answered. "Present circumstances excepted, of course."  
  
"Of course."  
  
"How's your father?"  
  
Liara looked back toward the group of freed Asari. Aethyta was seated on the remains of a bench getting checked over by T'Goni's medic. "She was caught in the concussion of a blast before we were captured," Liara explained. "Her leg will need help and I don't think she can use her left arm very well. She may have a concussion as well." Some relief was visible in Liara's eyes. "But she's alive and not badly hurt. I'm grateful for that."  
  
"Of course." I grinned at her, trying to be friendly and supportive. "It's good to see you, Liara."  
  
"Yes. It's good to see you too, and I'm happy that you're feeling better." Liara smiled gently. "What about your friends?"  
  
"Oh, Korra and Asami went home. Back to work, that sort of thing. Korra's doing better now."  
  
"Ah. That is good." The smile remained on her face. "Their incident on the Citadel didn't cause any further problems?"  
  
"Oh, not at all. A good thing I had assistance from you and Shepard in smoothing that over. Korra would not have taken it well if C-Sec had insisted on putting Naga down."  
  
"It might have gone different if she had actually hurt those Hanar." The amusement remained on her features for a moment longer before it faded. "Doctor, these Sontarans... they're not from our galaxy, are they?"  
  
"No, they're not," I answered her. "They're from my cosmos. That is, the cosmos that is home to the Time Lords."  
  
"How is that possible?"  
  
"There's only one way I can think of. A Crack in the Universe." I shook my head. "I've seen other things from my cosmos slip through those before. But never something as big as a scouting force of Sontarans. The Crack must be huge."  
  
"When we get to an active computer, I can check my data and see if there are reports about any problems in nearby space before the invasion," Liara proposed.  
  
"That would be helpful. The sooner we find any Crack and close it, the better."  
  
Aria's voice boomed from deeper within the building. "Everyone with me! We'll take you to shelter."  
  
"We'd best be going," I said. "We have a lot of planning to do."  
  
"Yes." Liara nodded. I let her lead us back to Aria and the hatch that would return us to Aria's subterranean haven.  
  
  
  
  
By the time we returned to the control station underground, a brief pulse of vibration from my remote control locket told me the TARDIS was partially repaired. I found a quiet corner of the facility and called the TARDIS in. Once there I went to the various controls to see what systems were working yet. Communications were still down and sensors weren't functioning very well either. The engine was good for three, even four-dimensional travel. But she needed more time.  
  
All things considered, I was lucky. After prior incidents of the poor TARDIS getting roughed up I'd beefed up her systems for some extra robusity... robustness? How about stamina? Stamina works. Yes, stamina.  
  
I also took the time to change clothes and put my sewer-soiled suit in for cleaning, because saving the world - or even the whole galaxy - while smelling of the Asari sewer system was simply not good for the image. Or the nostrils.  
  
I was running checks on the sonic disruptor when I heard the door open. "Doctor?", I heard the voice ask.  
  
"Come on in, Liara," I said, my back still to the door and intent on my work.  
  
Liara stepped in. I turned to face her. She was still wearing the dusty Asari suit she'd come in wearing, complete with the bare shoulder from damage. The bruise on her forehead looked less colorful. It was mending. "I still can't believe... this." She looked around at the TARDIS interior. "Nothing in the galaxy can match this."  
  
"She is a unique sight, yes," I said in reply.  
  
She stepped up to the controls and then looked up at the knicknacks I had hanging around. She reached up and took my fez. It still bore the damage from when falling debris had hit it during the time I was trapped in Homura Akemi's half-made witch labyrinth. "You never replaced this?"  
  
I shook my head. "No. Haven't the heart. That's my lucky fez." I looked back down at the disruptor and finalized a check. I watched her look over the amythest necklace Katherine had left behind and my wizard hat for official Unseen University functions. "Looking for something?"  
  
"I'm just..." She ran her hand over a drawing from Kari and Chrissy. "...looking. These drawings..."  
  
"Kari and Chrissy. They're the daughters of Jan and Cami," I explained. I walked up to her. "Liara, we have time. Is there something you want to talk about?"  
  
"I..." She shook her head. "Talking with Aria has made me think about how my life has changed over the last five years."  
  
"I imagine so," I answered. "Are you concerned with her knowing about your current employment?"  
  
"I should be." Liara shook her head. "But the truth is that..." She stopped, as if trying to determine what to say next. "It was so easy before. When Shepard and I defeated the Broker. His resources were there. A network I could use to help Shepard, to help the galaxy, prepare for the Reapers. Without it we wouldn't have won that war."  
  
I nodded. "Yes. You performed admirably."  
  
"So I don't regret it," Liara continued. "But since then... it's been hard. We lost a lot of agents, and so many of those left were out to take advantage of the chaos following the Reapers' defeat. I reined them in, but not without cost." She looked at me. "I've had to kill people in fights before. But ordering... that kind of thing..."  
  
I nodded. "It's different," I said quietly. "You don't have to be there to see their fate."  
  
"I thought it would get easier. But it just gets harder." Liara looked distant. "What was it like for you, Doctor? When you... had to do terrible things? When you tried to make things better and had to do those things to make it work?"  
  
I remained silent for a moment. I didn't like to think about those times. "I... well..." I struggled with my thoughts on it. "To be truthful, I went mad, Liara. It was... intoxicating. To stop worrying about what I was doing and only thinking of my desired results. I did whatever I thought necessary, without regard for how terrible it was, and I got worse and worse..." I sighed. As much as I'd put this behind me - had come to accept it, move on, heal, that sort of thing - I knew I would never entirely get over it. My past deeds would continue to linger. I would continue to remember Ryan Steiner, the Dancing Joker, Eobard Thawne, Garrosh Hellscream, Albrecht Detweiler and the nasty things I did to each of them while I was the Time Lord Triumphant. Among other examples. "...I'm just thankful I had someone who cared about me enough to jolt me out of my madness." I blinked back the tear at the memory of how close Nerys came to dying at Parakar.  
  
Liara looked at me with sad eyes. I blinked. "Why don't you talk to Shepard about it?", I asked. "She cares about you. I'm sure she'll help."  
  
"I don't want to burden her," Liara answered. "She has enough problems."  
  
I nodded. Rebuilding the galaxy was quite a challenge for many people. But I suspected it was more than that. "I'm sure she'd consider it something other than a burden. For you, definitely."  
  
"I can't do that to her. Shepard's had to make enough hard decisions, having to live with the ones I've made to help her wouldn't..." Liara shook her head. "...it's nothing. I...."  
  
I extended a hand and put it on her forearm. Her sleeve was partly rolled up and I felt the texture of her skin on my palm. It wasn't as smooth as my own or a Human or other species with similar epidermal texturing, given the thin lines in the flesh, but she was still warm, and there was the faint buzz of the natural biotic power that lied within her body. Given the telepathic talents of the Asari and my own mental power as a Time Lord, I could sense the raw emotion welling within her. Fear for her father and her homeworld was there, of course. And guilt. Guilt and.. sadness. Despair. I couldn't be sure of specifics without a full mental link, but it was clear to me those emotions were linked to her job as the Shadow Broker.  
  
I thought on what that was like. Liara had done so much since she met Shepard, all in the name of helping her fight the Reapers. She'd gone from the eager, arguably naive young (well, young by Asari standards) xenoarcheologist to the galaxy's most powerful information broker, and had done so over the broken bodies of the people who had stood in her way. She'd had to work with some of the galaxy's nastiest people to help Shepard prepare for the Reapers. And the Reapers were enough of a threat that she could easily justify it. But they were gone. And yet she still had to make those decisions...  
  
Liara stared at me during several seconds of connection. She pulled the arm away slowly. "You're so calm," she said. "Even with the pain. How?"  
  
"I came to accept what I had done. And what I've become." I didn't put my hand back in the same place, but I did offer it. "If you want to talk, Liara, I wouldn't..."  
  
The door opened. T'Goni stood at the threshold. "Matriarch T'Loak wants to see you both," she said to us.  
  
"Ah. Very well." I nodded to Liara. "After you."  
  
She gave me a small smile and walked out of the TARDIS first.  
  
  
  
  
T'Goni stood halfway between Aria and Liara when we settled around the middle table. With several presses on a hard light interface she swept in a map of the city. "We still don't know the status of the structure they're building in T'Susza Plaza," T'Goni explained, indicating the central plaza by all of the major government buildings. "The Sontarans have a defensive perimeter laid out among all of the major avenues. There's no way to get in without getting spotted."  
  
I looked over the identified Sontaran positions. "I expect they have at least some mobile reserves to commit to an attack on the perimeter. You'd need something like a small army to break in."  
  
"Give me a hundred commandos and it'd be easy," T'Goni said. "But we only have twenty here, and some are wounded."  
  
"So brute force won't work," Aria said. "do we have alternatives? The sewer systems?"  
  
"No." Liara manipulated the display to show the sanitation systems moving into the area. "They intentionally isolated all maintenance access to the local sanitation infrastructure to remove that possibility."  
  
"And if you try to blast into those tunnels, the shockwaves will be detected," I added. I reached over and zoomed back out, checking the perimeter. Along the northeast side I narrowed my eyes and pointed. "Look at that. There's a partial blind spot. If we could only blind their positions here and here..." I indicated the positions I was talking about. "...then you could get commandos into the plaza and have them take cover in the underground maintenance areas through this hatch. From there..."  
  
Aria traced the isolated lines. "...we could assault this device directly. Or plant explosives to destroy it from below."  
  
I looked intently at her. "That would probably kill a lot of the Asari around the device," I pointed out.  
  
"And if it saves Thessia, we have no choice," Aria said.  
  
I almost protested but I held back. Her words made sense and I knew I wouldn't dissuade her. But that didn't mean I liked it. And I would do everything to prevent it from happening. "So we need a way to remove those posts."  
  
"Why not use your ship?", Aria asked. "You could move us into that underground directly."  
  
"Yes. But with the damage, I'm not sure the stealth circuits will work well enough to trick the Sontaran scanners." I rubbed at my forehead. "It'll take a day to get the TARDIS repaired enough."  
  
"We don't have that kind of time," Liara said. "If they're a scouting mission, that means an invasion force is going to be coming here at any time."  
  
"Correct." I looked over the map again. "So we need a way to get to those watch posts and knock them out without alerting the Sontarans."  
  
"Well..." Aria crossed her arms. "As it so happens, I happen to have a couple of old Cerberus stealth devices from their Phantom project."  
  
"They'll defeat sight, but possibly not the other senses," I pointed out. "It's a risk."  
  
"It's a risk I'm willing to take," Aria said. "One any of us would take to save Thessia."  
  
"Yes." Liara nodded. "I'll go."  
  
I looked at her. There was a faint trace of uncertainty on her face, but just faint. Subdued confidence appeared in her eyes. She was certain she could handle it. I looked to Aria. "You'll need me to be there to jam any transmissions. I'll go."  
  
Aria nodded at us. "Good. I'll have the commandos ready to go through the moment you signal us."  
  
  
  
  
Some time later Liara and I emerged from the sewers and took the lead in approaching the weak point in the Sontaran perimeter. Liara had one of those sub-machine pistols on one hip and a normal pistol on the other. But there had been no combat suits for her to wear so she was still in the now-shoulderless personal suit. I was in one of my customary suits, of course. The stealth device was clipped to the inside of my jacket by the carrying holster for my sonic disruptor. She had a similar clip for her device, on her belt near the pistol on her hip.  
  
We stayed as low as we could while approaching the perimeter. The stealth devices had a finite power supply and could fail easily with too much sustained use, making it imperative to preserve power for the actual entrance. It was only when we almost came to line of sight of the perimeter that we stopped. "Are you ready?", Liara asked me.  
  
"Oh, quite," I said, ignoring the little butterflies in my stomach. I'm not always best at the stealth thing. I'm more the showman. But that wasn't what was needed. I reached into my jacket and activated the device. The scenery seemed to ripple and discolor around me due to the interference it caused with the passage of light. I put a pair of eyeglasses on that returned my view to normal by accounting for the stealth field. Liara had a pair of goggles on that used the same technology as the helmets employed by the Phantoms, allowing her similar normalization of her sight. "Let's go."  
  
We were still careful in our approach. I was concerned that if the Sontarans were really paranoid, they might have up multi-spectral systems that might view wavelengths the Cerberus cloaks didn't cover. I felt my hearts pound with anticipation and worry as we drew closer and closer. When nothing came of it I was, of course, deeply relieved.  
  
We entered the alleyway and got into a safe area, where we kneeled down to talk closely and quietly "What's your plan?", Liara asked me.  
  
"Well, I can jam their signals easily enough, but if they open fire the other Sontarans may hear that." I looked around. "We need some way to disable them quickly."  
  
"What happened when they don't report in?", Liara asked.  
  
"Most likely the Sontarans go on alert. But that gets us time to get everyone into the hatch before the alarm goes out."  
  
"Maybe there's some other way," Liara said. "Couldn't we blind them somehow? Or divert their attention?"  
  
"Any diversion would become suspect," I answered. "However, we could do the next best thing..." I got back to my feet and found the pathway up to one of the watch posts. Even with the stealth device on we could cause some sounds if we rattled the smallest pieces of rubble and the like. This required careful steps.  
  
Thankfully, we made it. Once at the top I brought out the sonic disruptor and set it to setting 21, wide angle. "Stay back, this will cause anything a splitting headache," I warned her with a hushed breath, after which I activated the disruptor.  
  
The neural disruption hit even the Sontarans. They contorted from what their brains insisted was debilitating pain. I hated causing it, but in these circumstances things like "the lesser evil" come to mind, sadly. We watched as the Sontarans fell unconscious. Without a word Liara went to work in restraining them while I used the sonic on their radio set. "Alright, that's moderately good."  
  
"What is?"  
  
"Next check-in is simple text. It buys us more time." I used the sonic to enact my plan; the software in their communications system was instructed to send regular check-ins at inquiries. It would buys us a cycle or two until the next physical verification became unavoidable. "On to the next ones."  
  
We went down the pathway and followed a broken concourse over to the adjacent building. This Sontaran post was on an intermediate floor. Broken glass and rubble made our path irritating and difficult. We'd spent at least half an hour on this entire endeavor by the time we got to the next post. An office area had been converted into a defensive position by the industrious Sontarans. I frowned. I didn't think my tactic of using setting 21 would work, not with this spread. "I can't knock them out all at once."  
  
Liara looked them over. "I'll catch the one on the far wall. Can you get the others?"  
  
I tested the angle again and determined the right spot. "On three," I whispered.  
  
She nodded.  
  
"One... two...."  
  
At the count of three we struck. Liara got her man with a biotic barrier that opened him up to her gunfire. With my targets it was the option of the splitting headache; guaranteed to be more painful than Liara's method, but one that was much easier to survive.  
  
Liara, meanwhile, generated a stasis field around her target. The Sontaran went stiff as biotic energy locked him into place. My sonic disruptor caught the other Sontarans in its setting 21 field.  
  
But only two went down.  
  
The last one was at the edge of the field, maybe, or maybe he was just more robust. The important thing was that he didn't go down entirely. He stumbled out of the field effect and brought his gun over before I could move my disruptor to cover him. I was forced to jump for cover and I barely did so before red light stitched the ceiling and wall behind me, blasting masonry and building material loose with enough force that I felt like I was getting hit with a small sandblaster.  
  
At that point we were fortunate that I had taken the other two down. Otherwise we would have been doomed. We still might be since the last Sontaran standing was going for his radio. I was too busy picking myself up off the floor to stop him.  
  
That left Liara.  
  
With only seconds to react Liara had to go for a quick burst of biotic power. It wasn't surgical or precise. Dark matter crackled with energy as it flew through the air, hitting the Sontaran just as he reached for the communications set. He pitched forward and slammed into it before smashing himself against the wall. The Sontaran didn't move once he hit the ground.  
  
I scrambled to my feet while Liara prepared a dark matter singularity for the trapped Sontaran. I got to the fallen Sontaran and the communication set with my sonic screwdriver already out. And it confirmed what my eyes were telling me.  
  
The force of the Sontaran and Liara's biotic bolt had, well, caused the device to be smashed between the Sontaran and the wall. It was dead. D-E-A-D. Shuffled off this mortal coil, that sort of thing.  
  
Which meant that whenever the Sontarans made a perimeter check, they would know something happened here.  
  
"I don't suppose we could rig a radio of our own?", Liara asked.  
  
"Unfortunately not. The Sontaran communications are encrypted with the decryption tied to the hardware." I sighed. "So we're on a ticking clock. We don't have any time to waste."  
  
Liara nodded. She brought her forearm up and her omni-tool appeared around it. She hit a couple of keys to activate the narrow-beam two-way communication to Aria, informing her of our success. We finished detaining our Sontaran prisoners and, confident they wouldn't be escaping, made it down in time to meet Aria as she gave directions to some of the commandos. There weren't twenty present. And their number decreased as four of the commandos walked past Liara and I toward the direction we came from. I narrowed my eyes. "You detailed teams to kill the guards?", I asked, perhaps a bit too harsh with my tone.  
  
Aria gave me an exasperated look, as if to say "Of course you idiot", and went back to giving orders to T'Goni. Looking around I saw that while there weren't twenty commandos present, there were about thirty Asari around us.  
  
Of course. Volunteers.  
  
I sighed again, hoping their bravery wouldn't result in a quick death fighting the Sontarans. "Everyone remember their probic vents," I said to the assembled. "If you get a shot at their back anyway."  
  
There were nods. Aria checked a map on her omni-tool and motioned foreward. "Let's go."  
  
As we approached the hatch, the angle of the nearby buildings allowed me to see, through a window, the structure the Sontarans were assembling. I got up to a window and looked out at the tower.  
  
No, not a tower. It was a.. transmission antenna? No, the tips weren't quite right. At least not for communications. It could still clearly transmit energy. My eyes went down the gray, metallic tower and watched it widen out at the bottom. Indeed, the base was very, very widened. I could see a Sontaran cargo shuttle, a huge one, at the base, dropping off containers of Asari make. With a further zoom in I even made out the symbols.  
  
Eezo.  
  
Lots of Eezo.  
  
Which wasn’t surprising, since the planet is so rich in it. The Asari owed their innate biological affinity for biotics to the sheer concentrations of eezo in their environment.  
  
There was a distant scream. I heard Liara approach behind me. "What was that?", she asked.  
  
I pulled out my spyglass and used it to zoom in on the lower levels. There were Asari there, kept in captivity fields by the Sontarans. Here and there Sontaran troops would pull an Asari out. Some were crying. Some looked... lost. Broken. I swallowed. This... really was a re-run of the Reapers for them now, wasn't it?  
  
And I hadn't yet seen what the Sontarans were _doing_ to them.  
  
I moved the spyglass over the scene and tried to keep my gut from twisting too much. I tried to follow the line of Asari being brought to... to what?  
  
That was when I saw the pods. Open, with connectors in them that would pierce the skin of a humanoid occupant at several points. At gunpoint the Asari were forced into them, crying out in pain in some cases, or in others too broken or full of despair and shock to do anything else. Once Asari were placed in the pods they were sealed in and the pods moved inside.  
  
I narrowed my eyes. They weren't being killed, that was certain. And those connectors... why would the Sontarans...?  
  
"Oh Goddess," I heard Liara gasp. She was using the Cerberus-tech goggles to zoom in as well. "What are they doing to us?"  
  
"I..." My mind raced as it began to compile facts. As it did so we both beheld one spark of resistance. An Asari maiden recoiled from the pod. She tried to fight back, summoning biotics that tossed two of the Sontarans away. She screamed to the others. In mid-scream a bolt of energy struck her and she fell. Given her chest was still rising and falling, it had been a stun weapon.  
  
The Sontarans wanted them _alive_.  
  
Why?  
  
What were they doing here? What was the point of this scouting force invading Thessia, of this structure being built right....  
  
I pushed my horror out of my mind and demanded my mind focus itself upon the facts. A scouting force, implying a larger invasion force. Taking Asari alive and putting them into devices clearly meant to tap into their physiology. Building a tower clearly meant to transmit energy. Shipping in eezo taken from Thessia’s mines by the shipload...  
  
When it comes down to it, logic is math with the facts muddied up by limited knowledge and perspective. I mean, you know two means two, and that if you take two and add two you get four. That's basic math. That's how logic basically works too. You just have to make sure you're dealing with two instead of, say, five. Or six. Or zero. And then you start considering significant figures and if you're dealing with the large value of 2 instead of just two and in the end you forget to carry the two and you wind up running from a giant bloody ape or some other silly thing.  
  
Wait, sorry, digressing there. Point is... the more facts you have, the better you can process the problem in true logical, mathematical style.  
  
....of course, it doesn't help that process if you get interrupted in mid-thought by the sound of an explosion.  
  
I couldn't see where the fire was coming from, but it wasn't hard to guess. Explosions hit the ground near us and if not for the wall being in the way Liara and I would have probably been cut to ribbons. Given the screams coming outside, some of the Asari fighters with us hadn't been so lucky. "Biotic fields, now!", I heard Aria shout.  
  
I nodded to Liara, who projected one of her own over us. It would protect us somewhat, but if the Sontarans were using really nasty anti-personnel weapons, it might not be enough. Nevertheless, some protection was better than none. We got out of the building and ran toward the hatch, entering the protective biotic fields of several of the Asari. Others were filing into the open hatch. I almost barked a protest, but another blast interrupted me. Shrapnel struck the combined biotic field, but it held. Given the grunts I heard, though, that wouldn't work for long.  
  
"We're out of time!", Aria declared to me, getting T'Goni into the hatch. "We're swapping to Plan B." She didn't bother waiting for my protest before jumping in.  
  
Plan B. The "blow it all up from below" plan. Otherwise called the "Kill everyone at the base of the structure" plan. I hated it.  
  
But there was no time to complain. I made sure Liara jumped into the hatch and I followed her down.  
  
I had just gotten my head into the hatch when a thunderous roar came from outside, followed by agonized screams. I looked up and saw that the protective biotic field had disappeared. The only sounds coming from above were screams and cries of pain.  
  
Our rear guard had just been wiped out.  
  
And here we were, descending into what was honestly a big trap, the Sontarans sure to be hot on our heels, and with Aria ready to kill hundreds of her own people to strike at the Sontarans.  
  
Sometimes... I really hate my luck.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our narrator discovers what the Sontarans are doing with the Asari prisoners.

At least the tunnels didn't intersect the actual waste lines. Thank goodness for small blessings.  
  
Of course, I say this about being chased into dimly lit maintenance tunnels underneath a large concentration of Sontaran troops and their Asari prisoners, with many of my allies hurt or worse and the Sontarans sure to begin coming after us.  
  
Aria led the way in moving deep into the maintenance tunnels beneath the main government square of Thessia's capital city. We remained quiet for the trip. It gave me time with my thoughts, to piece together what the Sontarans were up to.  
  
"What are they doing to us?", Liara asked me.  
  
"Not sure." I considered possibilities. An outlandish one was using the Asari as dark matter batteries, but that was silly and ridiculous. Hostages, maybe? No. Some attempt to utilize their telepathic talents for information processing? Then why all of the eezo?  
  
We stopped. Or rather Aria stopped, at a juncture leading in several directions, and bade all of us through. Once we were she and T'Goni went to work on... ah. A hidden mine trap. Liara took the opportunity to call up the schematics of the underground. We had moved around the perimeter and the current junction would take us deeper into the corridor. I held up my sonic and used it to add the Sontaran tower to the map. "See this port?" I motioned to it. "We could get in and find out what's going on."  
  
"The only thing we're doing, Doctor, is blowing that damn thing to pieces," Aria informed me candidly.  
  
I looked to her. "There are hundreds of your people up there..."  
  
"And billions across the world, yeah. So we do what we have to." She narrowed her eyes at me. "I make the decisions here. I told you that from the beginning."  
  
I scowled. "Yes, you have. I'm saying you don't _need_ to make this one. If I can get in there, I can find out what they're doing and sabotage it. If we just blow it up, and even assuming we survive, there could be other structures like it out there that they're using. I need to know what their plan is!"  
  
Aria considered my words for a moment. "I'll need time to plant the bomb," she finally said. "You can do whatever it is you want while we work."  
  
"That might not be enough time."  
  
"Too bad." Aria looked back and confirmed T'Goni had finished setting the mine. She spied a look at Liara's map and went to the appropriate tunnel. "This way."  
  
As we continued on, Liara looked at me. "Can they track us down here?"  
  
"Possibly," I said. "They have very good technology."  
  
"Then they might plant bombs of their own."  
  
"Nothing too big, or they might damage the foundations of their tower," I pointed out. "Still..." I moved ahead to Aria. "I need to be in the front with you," I said, holding up the screwdriver. "Just in case they're scanning for us and leave any surprises."  
  
"Fair enough." Aria looked at me gravely. "Just don't get in the way."  
  
"Perish the thought," I murmured.  
  
We moved on. About five minutes into our journey, there was a distant explosion behind us. The mine, clearly. Aria and I picked up the pace in response.  
  
It was when we got to the last junction that I called out "stop!" and gestured with my hand. Aria stopped where she was. "Mine." I knelt down. "Very clever. Directed energy mine. One more step and a particle lance will vaporize you."  
  
"How do we get past it?", Aria asked.  
  
"Patience." I twirled the sonic screwdriver in my hand and began the nerve-wracking process of disabling the mine trap. It took me a few minutes. Behind us T'Goni and Aria set another mine.  
  
We finished at about the same time, but just before Aria stepped into the next passage I raised my arm and caught her. "Wait," I hissed.  
  
"What?", she demanded.  
  
I held up the sonic and scanned again. "Oh, clever buggers." I looked to her. "Second mine, just inside. Nice little trick." I looked back to my sonic and held it as close as I dared. "Another few minutes..."  
  
I had just started on it when I heard shouting from behind me. "Here they come!", one of the Asari shouted, and I heard the sound of their mass effect weapons fire. I looked back in time to see Liara and another of the Asari raise a biotic field that caught several bursts of red energy.  
  
"We've got to go, _now_ ," Aria insisted.  
  
I frowned and went back to work. The mine was more sophisticated and since I couldn't physically reach it, my options were limited. This was going to take time.  
  
Given the cry of effort from Liara and the others contributing to the field behind us... it was time I didn't have.  
  
"New plan," I muttered. "Aria, can you place a biotic field around the entrance? A cylinder that we can walk through?"  
  
Aria nodded. "I can try."  
  
"Do it. I don't have time to disarm the mine."  
  
Aria nodded. She brought her hands up and I saw intense concentration show on her face. I jumped through first, which might have been rather reckless of me but we were on a time limit and waiting seemed the worse option. "Everyone through," Aria gasped, clearly having to focus intently on maintaining a complicated field geometry. One by one the Asari filtered through. Liara was next to last. T'Goni slipped through while keeping a defensive field up on Aria. Liara's hands came up and she overlapped a second cylinder over Aria's to permit the older Asari to jump through. Practice made up for youth and Liara was able to hold the field long enough for Aria to get through. "This way, now!" I used the sonic screwdriver one last time and took off, putting me in the lead position briefly as we ran down the tunnel.  
  
The Sontarans were already going through the junction by this point. They fired some shots that struck the biotic barriers the rear-guard were maintaining and rushed on in pursuit.  
  
Which was exactly what I wanted them to do.  
  
I hadn't disarmed the mine. What I had managed to do was disable the mine's life sign sensor. It could no longer determine who was friend or foe.  
  
The explosion behind us was both terrifying and oddly gratifying.  
  
  
  
  
We had no more obstacles remaining when we got to a position below the Sontaran tower. The hatch had to be pulled loose by biotics since there was no room for it to go up. The Sontarans hadn't linked their structure so above us was the literal ground floor. Aria pulled a satchel charge out and I grabbed her wrist. "Better idea," I murmured, pulling out my sonic disruptor in the same motion. I pointed it up to the foundation of the structure and flipped it to my ultrasonic vibration setting. There was no immediate visible effect, but there wouldn't be; the vibrations were, however, wreaking havoc on the material making up the floor and weakening it enough for what came next. "Your biotics should be able to rip us a hole now," I murmured.  
  
Aria gave me a skeptical look and sighed. She reached a hand up and threw out a bolt of biotic power.  
  
I tried not to smirk with satisfaction when the tower floor gave way and Aria got hit by one of the bigger debris pieces. Honest. And it was right in the forehead too. Oh, I did my best to keep that smirk off. But I just couldn't help myself. Aria noticed it and glared angrily at me before turning to her subordinates. "Everyone up."  
  
T'Goni, ever the brave one, went first, biotic field ready should she be attacked. There was none above her though. One of the other Commandos came next to finish securing the location. Aria eyed me and motioned to the ladder. "You first."  
  
I raised an eyebrow. "Really?"  
  
"Yes." Her eyes narrowed. "Because otherwise I'm going to think you're staring at my ass, and then I'll probably kill you."  
  
"Ah." I nodded. "Fair enough." And I promptly began to climb.  
  
The ground level of the Sontaran facility was made up of spaces for the pods I'd seen before. I clambered out and began actively scanning with the sonic screwdriver. The nearby pods were full of adult Asari. Given the blank looks on their faces I suspected the Sontarans were employing a constant paralytic agent on them to keep them from moving. But their eyes... yes, they were awake. And they were utterly _terrified_.  
  
Not that I could blame them, of course. In fact, the entire thing was nightmarish. I frowned and pulled out the sonic, thinking of freeing them, but the sonic's initial scan warned me of the security systems in place. Without a command code, the pods would trigger a deadly electric shock straight into their nervous systems. I frowned and started scanning for a control station.  
  
"By the Goddess...." Liara's voice was full of horror and sympathy. "What's being done to them?"  
  
"I'm not sure," I said. "The pods are wired directly into their nervous systems and connected to the electrical systems."  
  
"I see that." Liara was running her own scans with her omni-tool. "It looks like the pods are set up to trigger and absorb an Asari's biotic field."  
  
"Really?" I blinked and looked over at her scan results. "That's odd. Why would they do that?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Liara answered. "I don't think individual Asari are that powerful."  
  
"Yes. This clearly isn't the Sontarans behaving like the Machines..."  
  
Liara looked at me. "The who?"  
  
"Oh, um, alternate Earth I bumped into, a sentient AI collective had beaten Humanity in a war and, well, due to Human efforts to block sunlight ecologically they made the decision to meet some of their power needs by turning Humans into batteries." I smirked. "Well, they _used_ to do that anyway. I had a talk with them."  
  
"I see. So these things were like the Geth?"  
  
"Not nearly so nice," I answered. "Nor hospitable. Anyway, that's not what they're doing. There's no point in it, not with all the eezo they're shipping in." I held out the sonic. "I need to find a control station." I looked back to where Aria and one of her people were starting to assemble a nasty-looking explosive device. "Aria, I'll be right back."  
  
Aria looked at me and scowled. "Like hell I'm letting you run around, Doctor. You could give away our location."  
  
I reached into my jacket and hit the Cerberus stealth device again. The familiar effects obscured my vision until I retrieved the glasses. "I'll be fine."  
  
Liara did the same. "I'll go with him."  
  
"Fine. You've got five minutes."  
  
Liara and I walked down the hall at a brisk pace. I kept my ears strained to listen for any Sontarans coming but they didn't seem to know where we were yet. I let my sonic follow the electrical systems of the structure until we had traveled for a minute and found what I was looking for. A control station. I began running the sonic on it and tapping keys while Liara stood as lookout. "I'm getting into their basic systems now," I said. "It's rather tricky."  
  
"Nothing coming yet."  
  
"Alright... basic access.... damn, no, I don't have passwords, going to need to do what I can from basic systems." The screen flashed on and went through several command cycles. "Ah..." I watched a schematic of the tower pop up. I could see where the eezo was going; a level just above the one for the Asari pods. They were even connected and feeding into the central spire of the tower. But why? What were they...  
  
And like that, the math problem clicked into place. I could see the values and plug them together.  
  
And it made my stomach twist.  
  
"That's what they're doing," I murmured. "Not batteries."  
  
"Doctor?"  
  
"They're not using Asari as batteries," I gasped. "They're using them as... as _sparkplugs_!"  
  
"Sparkplugs?"  
  
"Like in an internal combustion engine," I replied hoarsely. "Well, okay, not entirely.... look, a sparkplug is used to generate a very small electrical spark. A weak, tiny little spark, not sufficient at all to drive a feather, let alone a piston. But the spark in turn serves to ignite fuel with a much higher energy potential behind it. And thus you get the 'combustion' part of 'internal combustion engine'. Liara, that's what the pods are for. They're going to use the biotic fields of the captive Asari to trigger an even larger reaction from the eezo above us."  
  
"Like a nuclear fission reaction being used to trigger a more powerful fusion reaction?", Liara asked.  
  
I snapped my fingers. "Another good analogy, if different on the relative power scales." I looked over the schematic again and felt the pieces falling into place. All it required was one last piece. I scoured the file systems and...  
  
Yes. There it was.  
  
"That's what the tower is for," I said. "It's a massive graviton generator. The Asari will trigger the first phase, creating a further energetic reaction with the eezo that will create a graviton burst of immense power."  
  
"But why?", Liara asked.  
  
"There's only one reason," I said, my voice growing hard. "The Crack. They're going to use the graviton beam on the Crack. Enough power and they'll... they'll create a pan-dimensional tunnel through the Crack. A permanent one." I looked to Liara, who looked to me. "They're scouts all right."  
  
"Not just scouts," Liara clarified. "They're pioneers."  
  
"For an invasion," I agreed.  
  
And that was when we heard the shouts in the distance. Liara and I took off running toward the turn ahead, the first to get back to Aria and the others.  
  
We almost ran into Lieutenant T'Goni ad the turn. There was a large black mark on her side, above her hip, and her face was - for an Asari - going pale. "We're under attack," she said. "Aria's almost set the bomb. She told me to come get you."  
  
"Let me see that," Liara said, activating the medi-gel dispenser on her omni-tool.  
  
"No time!", T'Goni insisted. "We've got to go, now!"  
  
We ran ahead. T'Goni kept up with us despite the pain of her wound. The sounds of battle were ahead of us. As we came up to the final turn I could see a Sontaran body laid out on the floor, mowed down by massed fire. I peeked around the corner first.  
  
Aria and her people were surrounded on all sides by a Sontaran force that was now four times their size, given the volume of fire coming from the other direction. A biotic field was around them but growing weaker by the second. I could just make out, over the heads of the Sontarans, the scene of Aria still trying to finish her bomb.  
  
I knew she wouldn't make it. All she was going to do was get her people killed for nothing. And I needed her alive.  
  
"Aria, withdraw!", I shouted. "You can't win this!"  
  
"I'm finishing this!", she screamed back. The Sontarans nearest to me were starting to look around. I had to duck back around the corner. They were going to get curious, and T'Goni was visible to them. The moment one of them decided to look for me, she'd be found.  
  
Time to do something that would probably cause Aria to shoot me.  
  
First things first. I turned off the stealth device and handed it to T'Goni. I put my special glasses on her head next. "This will work for you," I said. "Here." I handed her the sonic disruptor. "Turn invisible with Liara and keep this safe for me. The two of you stay hidden and do what you can to follow me. Just _stay hidden_."  
  
"What are you doing?", Liara asked.  
  
"Something that will probably get me shot by a bloody mad pirate queen," I answered. I peeked around the corner again. The Sontarans were still busy trying to destroy Aria's force. But they'd be coming for me next. I knew that.  
  
The biotic field protecting Aria and her people was draining. They didn't have time to finish setting up the bomb. But if they retreated, the detonator itself would easily handle attackers. The trick was getting Aria to do so.  
  
So I didn't give her a choice. I turned on the sonic. The tip lit up with my beloved purple and she whirred happily.  
  
The timer on the detonator started ticking down from thirty seconds.  
  
"Dammit!", I heard Aria scream. "I'll kill you for this, Doctor! Do you hear me?!"  
  
I thought it best not to answer.  
  
"Everyone withdraw, now!" I heard the sounds of the Asari withdrawing back through the hatch. A cry of pain came from one, undoubtedly hit by a Sontaran shot.  
  
I had calculated they could safely withdraw in twenty to twenty-five seconds. I gave them the extra five or so seconds to be safe. At the twenty-seven second mark the Sontarans were charging forward to secure the hatch. "Pursue the enemy!", I heard one call out. "Corporal Strek, disarm the..."  
  
 _ **Boom.**_  
  
The blast undoubtedly killed some of the Sontarans. The others were thrown back violently. The rumble through the ground almost cost me my footing. I managed to keep my feet and looked over into the scene of destruction, the dead and wounded Sontarans. The blast had broken through the ceiling of this floor and caused some debris to fall down. Including into the hatch. If Aria was as clever as I thought, she would quickly make sure it looked sealed to be used later.  
  
Of course, not all the Sontarans were dead and wounded. They're tough little buggers, after all. One of the survivors who had just been knocked over looked up and quickly spotted me. "Halt!", one shouted. "In the name of the Sontaran Empire!"  
  
I took off the other way in a dead run. Fitting because I knew that if I was caught, I would end up very, very dead.  
  
And I couldn't let that happen. Not with these stakes. This wasn't just about Thessia anymore. The Sontarans were coming. In force. And against a galaxy still rebuilding from the near-apocalypse of the Reaper threat.  
  
If the Sontarans fired the graviton beam on the Crack, their fleet would come through... and this entire galaxy would be theirs for the taking.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our narrator must do a lot of running to keep ahead of the Sontarans. They're taking it rather personally that he's interfering in their plans for galactic conquest.

All I could do was run.  
  
Run to the console I'd left behind, sure. Just to make a couple checks on the internal layout. But the Sontarans were hot in my heels and I had to keep going. I could only hope T'Goni and Liara were on my heels.  
  
I was nearly at a sprint when I got to one of the ladders going further up into the complex. I grabbed the rungs and used them to arrest my foward inertia. I got my feet over to them and found purchase as quickly as I could, and this was important as I had just cleared the ceiling of that levell when red bolts of energy stitched across the wall where I had been. While climbing I noted the Sontarans had integrated defensive shutters to help repel assaults and I activated the one below me, getting it closed just as the Sontarans appeared below me, guns raised.  
  
Of course, they could do the same thing. I almost lost a hand to the shutter above me and had to bring up the sonic to manually re-open it. I took the ladder up to the second floor and, after clearing another shutter, the third, remembering the schematics as I did. I was fairly certain that Liara and T'Goni were no longer right behind me, but they had the sonic disruptor and I had set it to search for the sonic screwdriver that I still held in my possession. They would follow at their own pace.  
  
My destination was the upper floors of the base, where the banks of eezo were kept. That was where I had to be to stop this.  
  
I thought to clear the third floor, but before I could the shutter above me opened and a Sontaran was above me, his gun pointing downward. I dived off the ladder just before he fired. I swung the screwdriver up and closed the shutter before he could continue going down. It looked like I needed to get running again, find another way up.  
  
As I ran through those halls I could see that this floor didn't have nearly as many Asari in it. Clearly this was the floor they were filling up. If anything it removed the temptation to free Asari to use in the fight, a bad temptation since it would likely only serve to get them killed for minor gain. With that option gone, I had the option of running onward. I tried for the center of the structure, where the lifts were. If I could hijack one of those it could take me to my destination. While crossing one junction I found Sontarans approaching me from either side. I had to dive for cover before they fired, and I barely made it. I scrambled back to my feet and ran onward. A security blast door presented itself for me to close behind me with a wave of the sonic.  
  
I was in the central shaft now, where lifts surrounded the main assembly for the tower's graviton emitter. There was no way to access it directly, at least not when I had the Sontarans hunting for me and no time to get through their security measures. Otherwise I wouldn't be trying to go for their eezo stores.  
  
I ran to the nearest lift and started using the sonic on it. Unfortunately, it wouldn't open. Even more unfortunately, more Sontarans came through the far door and I had to hoof it. I started running around the circumference of the inner circle, trying lift doors as I did and dodging and weaving to avoid Sontarans.  
  
I got to one door and tried it. It didn't open. I was starting to run again when Sontarans appeared ahead of me. I turned to go the other way... and they were there too. And coming from the nearest main access to the central shaft.  
  
Oh, great. I was surrounded.  
  
"I demand to see your commander," I shouted.  
  
They replied by raising their guns at me.  
  
My hand snaked for the TARDIS remote, but it was a slim chance that the repair cycle had gotten it going again. And here I was, without my sonic disruptor, and my screwdriver not really equipped to disable the guns of more than a dozen Sontarans.  
  
Before I could get shot, the lift slide open behind me with a sharp sound. Dark blue energy popped into existence in front of me and absorbed the first shots. "Get in, quick!", I heard Liara shout. I did so.  
  
Liara was at the controls with her omni-tool active and tied into them. T'Goni, despite her wound, was providing the biotic field that saved me. She handed me the sonic disruptor back just as more fire began converging on her field. Sweat was covering her face from her efforts to maintain the field with one hand.  
  
I brought the disruptor around and sent off a quick kinetic pulse that staggered the Sontaran rank dead ahead. The fire on the field slackened in that moment, long enough for Liara to finish closing the lift. "When you went on the ladder I realized the only way to catch up to you was with the lift."  
  
"And the sonic disruptor's link to my screwdriver told you I was on the third floor?", I asked.  
  
"Actually, I figured that was as far as you could go before they cut you off," Liara replied. She looked to the controls and sighed. "They're trying to cut my access."  
  
"Here, let me." I used my sonic screwdriver on the controls, isolating them from the Sontaran network and enabling Liara to continue her manual control of the lift. "Fifth level, if you would so please."  
  
"The eezo stores?", she asked.  
  
"More specifically, the main graviton generators tied to the eezo," I said. "We take those out, the Sontarans can't finish this."  
  
"Yes. But how will you do that?"  
  
"Overload should work," I answered. "Channel it through the main conduits, the graviton emitter gets fried and the entire tower is useless. Granted, that still leaves a few hundred very mad Sontarans to deal with...."  
  
"If we can get a signal out, a Citadel defense force can be here in hours," Liara said.  
  
"If we can find a way to make that work, we will," I answered. "But let's not presume until we know for sure. Safer that way."  
  
  
  
  
We got to the eezo stores near the generator before the Sontarans caught up with us. A squad of them intercepted us along a T-junction in a corridor and forced us to take momentary cover. T'Goni brought up a biotic field around us and gave us the cover for a counter-attack. Liara threw out a bolt of biotic energy that became a gravitational singularity, pulling the Sontarans off their feet with powerful G-forces and making them vulnerable to the gun in her other hand and my sonic disruptor's neural disruption setting.  
  
We got beyond that encounter and to what I was looking for. The graviton generator was one of six on this floor, all tied together to receive the inputs from the eezo and the Asari in the pods below. A pair of Sontarans were at the control stations. "Halt!", one shouted, reaching for his gun. I knocked him aside with a burst from the sonic disruptor. T'Goni's gun barked out at the other before he could fire.  
  
"How's the wound?", I asked T'Goni. She was moving pretty well again, hopped up on medi-gel no doubt.  
  
"I've had worse," she said while inspecting the room. "We need a defensive position."  
  
Liara looked around the room. "There are some crates of eezo here that might work."  
  
"Only for a time," I said. "Enough fire from the Sontaran weapons might cause a reaction within the eezo." I indicated some machinery in the corner. "That's the relay for the energy they'll draw from their Asari victims. That should work."  
  
"Right." Liara and T'Goni, working together, applied their bionics to tear the equipment loose and turn it into a barricade. When they were done Liara checked the heat clip on her pistol and looked back to me. "Are we going to need to get to the other generators?"  
  
"No," I answered. "The Sontarans had to network this one and the others in order to properly generate their boosted graviton beam." I used my right hand to operate the controls while the left continued to use the sonic as needed. "I'm rerouting all controls here and locking them out of their own systems. Even if they manage to physically isolate some of the generators, I only need a couple for the overload."  
  
"Incoming!"  
  
Liara turned back in time for a Sontaran energy blast to strike the biotic field she quickly brought up in instinctive self-defense. Weapons fire barked out in retaliation behind me while I continued to work, alienating controls to the network and in general taking total control of the Sontaran machine.  
  
Of course, once the overload was complete, we'd have to get out of here, and again I didn't think the TARDIS would be ready for a pickup.  
  
Oh well, one problem at a time.  
  
The Sontarans attempted a direct assault through the doorway and T'Goni and Liara punished them for it. Soon the pile of Sontarans at the entrance made further assaults impossible. I briefly looked back and noticed Liara putting another heat clip into her pistol. "We're going to run out of heat clips," T'Goni lamented.  
  
"Well, that's what you lot get for switching out those nifty cooling systems," I responded.  
  
"Not another one of those debates, please," Liara pleaded. "Garrus was bad enough."  
  
"Yes, well...." I heard a noise. "The wall! They'll breach the wall, there!" I pointed.  
  
My allies had gotten their firearms around just in time for the deafening roar of an explosion and the collapse of the wall. Sontarans poured into the gap firing. Liara and T'Goni responded with their own shots behind their biotic defenses and friendly barricade. Blast after blast hit both, sending sparks flying from the latter.  
  
When the attack continued I sighed and turned to direct my sonic disruptor at the gap. The Sontarans, now helmeted, were protected from the neural disruptor effect, so I had to employ kinetic charge settings to throw them back into the gap in the wall. I returned to work when the attack relented.  
  
The delay had allowed them to cut the network off physically, depriving me of the controls of three of the generators. The rest would have to do. With no further time to waste I activated the generators. A steady hum started filling the room. "Alright, we need to be running," I said. " _Now._ "  
  
"There must be dozens out in the hall," T'Goni pointed out.  
  
"Yes." I grabbed one of the eezo crates and pulled it over to a point on the floor near the machinery leading downwards. I found cover behind some of the other crates and brought my sonic back up. "That's why we're going down."  
  
"What?", Liara asked.  
  
By then I'd already keyed my sonic devices. Both of them. Working in tandem I overloaded the eezo until it generated a localized but extremely powerful gravitational field. More than enough to rip up the floor beneath it while its own power kept its range limited.  
  
Once we had a hole I motioned to the others. "Down this way!", I shouted. Liara and T'Goni fell back from the entrance just as the Sontarans began pushing again. I held up the sonic disruptor and used its deflector setting to give them cover until we were at the hole. T'Goni went first. Liara looked to me and I nodded. "Go, I'm right behind you."  
  
She nodded and jumped. The hum in the generator room was becoming deafening. I stepped back and did a blind jump into the hole. Biotic energy broke my fall and let me land on my feet. We were in an eezo store room. "Keep running!" I shouted. We ran out into a corridor.  
  
The entire building suddenly shuddered. The explosions weren't cataclysmic, structure-gutting ones. Thankfully. They were simply the results of capacitors going snap-crackle-pop from getting too much energy fed into them. The energy surging through the system would destroy them even as it wrecked the central graviton driver that was in the center of the Sontaran structure.  
  
"Where now?", T'Goni asked.  
  
"Back to the bottom floors," I said. "We need to free everyone." As exhilarated as I felt, I didn't smile at that. In my mind I was already considering how many of the Asari might get killed before this was over. They were, relatively speaking, safe in the pods, and getting them out would endanger them.  
  
But if they remained in those pods... they would likely die anyway. Short-term possibility for some versus long-term outcome for them all. All I could do was pick the lesser evil and hope I was fast enough, smart enough, and clever enough to keep the Sontarans from beginning a massacre.  
  
We made it back to the lifts. There was no opposition. Nor did we see any as we appropriated a lift. The damage to the central shaft and the main power conduits to it had cut off lift access above the fourth level. A good thing we were going to the first.  
  
As the lift lowered under Liara's control, she looked to me. "Ambush?", she inquired.  
  
"Would explain the lack of being shot at," I said. "But with their limited numbers, they might be too spread out to catch us again. At least for now." I pondered that and looked back to Liara. I gave a nod. "Ambush," I agreed.  
  
We had a biotic field and the sonic disruptor's deflector waiting when we stepped out into the first floor. Sure enough, there were about twenty angry Sontarans waiting for us with guns drawn. And one with what looked to be a baton stick.  
  
A ha.  
  
"Colonel? General?", I asked.  
  
"General Strak," the Sontaran responded. "I demand your surrender, in the name of the Sontaran Empire."  
  
"I have my own demands," I countered. "I demand that the Sontarans leave Thessia, and this whole galaxy, alone."  
  
"You are not in a position to make demands, Time Lord," General Strak replied.  
  
"Nor are you, really," I answered. "No graviton emitter. No tunnel for your invasion fleet."  
  
"Machines can be rebuilt," Strak answered bluntly. "We have the time." He held up a control. "You do not."  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"Surrender, Time Lord," Strak said, "or I will trigger the failsafe for these 'Asari' we are using for our device."  
  
My gut twisted painfully. "Failsafe. You mean you'll kill them all."  
  
"Exactly," Strak said. "Surrender, or the Asari will all be destroyed."  
  
  
  
  
  
Ah, hostage crises. Aren't they always fun?  
  
Especially when surrounded by Sontarans, with their commander's finger on the button that would kill hundreds of innocent Asari.  
  
"Do you really think you can rebuild this graviton emitter before the Asari regroup?", I asked. "Because I think you're underestimating them."  
  
"I am a Sontaran commander and I will complete my mission," Strak replied hotly. "Surrender, Time Lord! Now!"  
  
I tightened the grip on my sonic screwdriver. I just needed a bit more time to try something. That meant I had to delay. "You're going to end up killing them anyway," I pointed out. "I don't exactly have motivation to cooperate."  
  
"You'll get to live a bit longer," Strak retorted. "And if you demonstrate a better method for opening the rift, we will not need the aliens of this world. They will survive to become useful subjects of the Sontaran Empire."  
  
"So that's the game? I help you conquer this galaxy and you spare them?", I asked. "A bit unfair."  
  
"Our victory will be assured either way," Strak declared. "Regardless of your petty interference."  
  
I frowned. "Awfully confident little buggers, aren't you?"  
  
"You have ten seconds to surrender," Strak announced. "Nine, eight...."  
  
Liara's hands were still up in creating a defensive biotic field. She was able to keep focus and still turn her head toward me. "Doctor. Please tell me you have a plan."  
  
General Strak's expression changed to surprise. "What did you say?", he asked in a demanding tone. "What did you call him?"  
  
"Doctor," Liara said. "He's called the Doctor."  
  
Strak's eyes widened. I kept an amused smirk off my face when he directed his eyes toward me. "No," he said. "No, that's not possible, we were assured..." He stopped talking.  
  
I raised an eyebrow. "Assured? Of what? By whom?"  
  
"You _cannot_ be the Doctor!", Strak shouted.  
  
"Well, I don't like to brag, but it _is_ the name I go by," I answered. "I'm rather attached to the name, I admit."  
  
Strak's face curled with a snarl. "Open..." he began. I figured the second word was "fire".  
  
But he was out of time.  
  
My arm came up and my sonic screwdriver lit up. Its whir was joined by a pop-crack of sparks as the electronics inside of Strak's control device exploded. I counted my blessings he hadn't been using a dead man switch. That would've taken more time to overcome and I didn't have it.  
  
Strak clearly suppressed an urge to yelp in surprise and pain and dropped the fried control. He glared angrily at me. "You only delay the inevitable! Men, ki-...."  
  
A powerful explosion drowned out Strak's order. One of the bulkhead doors was blown clear off its rails. The heavy metal door slammed into several Sontarans and crushed them against the nearby lift door. Grenades trailing thick gray smoke flew into the room. Nevertheless I recognized the sheer ferocity of Aria T'Loak as she erupted from the smoke surrounded in the dark blue of active biotics. She wasn't carrying a firearm. At this rate she didn't need one, with her biotics fully active and being used to tear through Strak's remaining troops. The sound of further gunfire came from within the cloud of smoke.  
  
T'Goni started firing from the hip, adding to the confusion. Strak barely avoided one of the shots and took off for the nearest door. I grabbed Liara's wrist and shouted, "Come along!"  
  
"He's running!"  
  
"Not quite. Fleeing is disgraceful for a Sontaran. Running off to activate a backup plan? Far more acceptable."  
  
Strak opened one of the blast doors and ran through it. It started to close behind him. Liara threw a biotic bolt that turned into a gravitational singularity that, briefly, resisted the door's mechanism. That bought us just enough time to continue the chase.  
  
Strak led us through the bottom floor of the Sontaran tower, past rows of captive Asari and vacant pod spaces alike. I wished I could open them and get the help of the occupants, but we were in a hurry. Whatever Strak was planning, I knew it wouldn't be good.  
  
We caught up to him just as he was getting into a Sontaran teleport pod. He looked back at us and fired off a shot with his sidearm, forcing us to hit the floor. He disappeared in white light.  
  
"Hurry!" I got back to my feet and dashed to the pod. Liara caught up with me just as I got to the controls. I triggered them to the last destination.  
  
There was a brief sense of dislocation and I found myself in a low-light chamber filled with control stations. Liara stood beside me and looked around. "Where is this?"  
  
"The control bridge of their ship," I answered. "Probably in orbit near the capital."  
  
The ship, as it turned out, was sparsely crewed. There were only a couple other Sontarans on it besides Strak, who was looking over a control. His soldiers were already pointing their weapons at us and Liara and I generated our respective protective fields to absorb their first shots. I kept mine up while Liara went to offense, using biotic power to knock them around. She was looking very pale now. Understandably so; even natural biotics like the Asari burned through calories like mad when using their biotic talents. Liara was running on empty. "This is over," I said. "You waged a fair contest and you lost, General. Take your troops and go back to the Empire."  
  
Unfortunately, the moments we had spent dealing with his subordinates had provided Strak the time to use his weapon on the controls. After, presumably, doing what he had planned to. "I am General Strak, Commander of the 9th Sontaran Fleet's Advanced Scout Force. I will complete my mission."  
  
The ship was moving underneath us. We were moving out of orbit. Through the ports I could see the broken remains of a couple of Asari ships. Smaller ones, mind you. Undoubtedly they were what was left of Thessia's defense squadrons. "You're moving us toward the Crack," I said.  
  
"The Rift, yes. You are brilliant, Doctor, but we prepared for every contingency."  
  
For a moment I thought of what he meant by that. Then it dawned on me. "You've loaded eezo onto the ship. You're going to cause a graviton burst to try and open the Crack anyway."  
  
"It is not preferable," Strak admitted. "But it must be done."  
  
"You _bloody idiots_ ," I rasped. "An uncontrolled graviton burst is just as likely to rip open a pan-dimensional tear that will disrupt multiple layers of reality! It could even spread the other way. Your own fleet could get wiped out."  
  
"Some, perhaps, but we have reserves." Strak's look was cold and unyielding. "No Sontaran fears death in the name of the Empire."  
  
"And what about the countless billions you might destroy?!", I retorted.  
  
"A necessary price to ensure my people survive the Time War," he answered.  
  
I blinked. This was set during some Sontaran involvement in the Time War? Still, it did explain, fully, the Sontaran motives. "Your people will survive the Time War," I told him. "I know. It's part of my past."  
  
"You think I would take the word of a Time Lord?", Strak asked. "When it comes to the survival of the Sontaran Empire? If you are truly the Doctor, then you are one of our greatest enemies and would seek to destroy us. If you are not, then you are a mad Time Lord, and thus you are a threat."  
  
In the distance I could see a thin sliver of white against the black void of space. The Sontaran ship coming through had likely caused the Crack to begin appearing in the lower dimensions. I was running out of time. "I can't let you do this."  
  
"The controls cannot be overridden," Strak told me. "There is nothing you can do to stop it."  
  
Liara looked at me in horror. "Then, what will happen to Thessia?"  
  
"Either invasion by the Sontarans or..." I swallowed. "A massive multidimensional tear that will destroy the planet."  
  
Liara looked back to Strak. A tear appeared in her eye. "You _monster!_ " Her hand whipped outward and a blast of biotic power struck the Sontaran. He collapsed as the biotic field began to tear at the very molecules making up his body. He didn't get back up.  
  
I went straight to the ruined controls and then looked to the others. One was intact. But it was... okay, it was communications. It would be potentially useful if I could gain any kind of control over the engines. "Liara, I'm establishing an extranet link here. Can you get a signal out?"  
  
"Yes." Liara raised her arm and her omni-tool flashed into existence. I left her to that job while checking the other ruined controls.  
  
The controls were, of course, destroyed, but that was just the direct interface. If the _connections_ had escaped damage, then I had a chance. I started examining one console. But Strak's work had gone too well. It was completely offline. I sighed and turned to the next one. I cursed under my breath upon seeing that there was no engine control either. "There has to be something here, come on...", I muttered.  
  
Ah. There we were.  
  
The connection to the rigged graviton generators was still active. The ones that Strak had set to overload when his ship arrived at the Crack. With the sonic I could try to send new commands. But he had locked down the shutdown sequence behind a high-level encryption. One I didn't have nearly the time to break.  
  
I needed to do something else. Another way of accomplishing my ends. I needed.... ah. Of course. That would work, wouldn't it?  
  
"Can you stop it?", Liara asked.  
  
"No," I replied. "But I can trigger it prematurely. The Crack won't be effected."  
  
"What do I have to do?"  
  
I looked up at her. "Get to the teleport pod. Go back down. I'll be right behind you."  
  
Liara nodded and I went back to work, listening as she teleported out. Calculations moved through my head in conjunction with the coding that was vital to my plan. My window was shrinking. Once we got too close... I'd have to trigger it immediately. Which would destroy the ship and, well, kill me in an graviton implosion of sufficient scale that it'd be pretty quick.  
  
I didn't want my journey to end here, but I was willing to see that happen if necessary. To prevent the cataclysm that would result if this Sontaran desperation gambit went on.  
  
A command here.... power distribution there.... aaaannnd.... done.  
  
I jumped to my feet and went for the pod. And I almost got to it when powerful arms grabbed my ankles and I fell just short of it. "No!", I heard General Strak cry out. "You will not thwart my mission! _Sontar Ha!_ "  
  
In my mind I had the timer ticking off in my head. Seconds left. I had to activate the implosion _now_. I held out the sonic screwdriver and used it to remotely activate the system.  
  
The ship shuddered as, deep within it, raw power was dumped into the systems that the Sontarans had prepared for this last ditch "Plan B". The eezo began to destabilize and create a powerful gravitational force that would implode the entire vessel in a burst of gravitic energy. It would take both of us.  
  
Oh well. I let out a sigh. There were worse ways to go. And worse reasons.  
  
That was when I heard the teleport pod activate again.  
  
Liara raised her pistol and it barked twice. Strak's head, well.... it wasn't pretty, I'll say that. She reached down, grabbed me by the arm, and hauled me into the pod. The ship was shaking violently beneath us and, any second, we would be crushed.  
  
Just as I felt the gravitational crunch hit critical mass, Liara's hand hit the teleport pod control. I felt the same dislocation sense and looked up.  
  
Lieutenant T'Goni and Aria were standing near the teleport pod. T'Goni smiled. Aria... didn't frown, so I guess that was good. I looked up to Liara. "Thank you," I breathed. "You saved my life."  
  
"You're welcome. And you saved mine first," Liara answered.  
  
I turned my head back to Aria. "How is everyone?"  
  
"Alive," she answered laconically. "A company of commandos from the southern continent got into the city a little while ago, they've already begun hunting down the Sontaran survivors." She finally smiled. It was a ruthless, vicious one. "They'll get what's coming to them."  
  
"What about the Sontaran forces around the structure?", I asked.  
  
That vicious smile proved to have room to grow. And become more vicious. "They're learning that it's not smart to piss off a planet full of biotics."  
  
"Ah." I nodded and finally took the time to stand.  
  
I was immediately on the floor again. Not because I lost my footing from weakness or anything. Rather it was because Aria's fist caught me across the jaw. If I'd been Human, I'd have lost teeth. As it was, as soon as I got my hand to my mouth I felt blood welling at the corner of my mouth. "Oi, what was that for?", I protested.  
  
"A reward for saving Thessia, and my life," Aria said.  
  
"A _reward_?", I said, unable to keep my eyes from widening.  
  
"Yes." She smirked. "I _was_ going to shoot you for disobeying my orders. Your reward is getting decked instead. Oh, and..." She leaned in close. "Remember the rule. _Don't fuck with me._ Next time, you'll be lucky if all I do is shoot you."  
  
She turned to leave at that point. "Aria!", I called out. This made her stop, although she didn't turn. "Might I ask... what were you doing here on Thessia? Really?"  
  
An aggravated groan came from her. "Oh, what the hell. I came because I'm negotiating to get a seat on the Council."  
  
I blinked. "Wait, what? You... you want the Asari seat on the Council?"  
  
"No, I don't," she scoffed. "I want _a_ seat. _My_ seat, as ruler of Omega. It's time the Council started recognizing that the Terminus Systems should have more of a say in how the galaxy is run."  
  
I raised an eyebrow. "Ah. Well... good luck, I suppose."  
  
"I make my own luck," she answered, at which point Aria finished walking out.  
  
T'Goni extended a hand and helped me to my feet. I looked at her and the wound that had blackened her side. "Shouldn't you get that checked out?", I asked.  
  
"I plan on it," T'Goni said. "But I wanted to thank you first. It's... it's been such an honor, Doctor."  
  
"Same here," I said, offering the Asari a handshake. She accepted it and headed off to, hopefully, get treatment. That left me and Liara in the room alone. "So, think your father's bar is intact?" I sighed. "I came for a drink there, actually."  
  
Liara smiled at me. "Why don't we go find out?"  
  
"Good. And...." A little idea had popped into my head, given the activities of the day. "I'd like to ask you an important question, Liara."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
As we got to the door, I nodded and smiled. "I was thinking, maybe you'd like to take a vacation from the Shadow Broker gig for a while."  
  
Her blue eyes twinkled. "A break sounds nice. But what would I do for this break?"  
  
"Well, I happen to know some lovely vacation spots," I answered. "And with time travel, the vacation can last as long as you like. Interested?"  
  
A small smile came to her face. "Maybe I am..."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the Sontarans defeated, our narrator busies himself with loose ends, potential Companions, and the most important part: getting that long-desired drink from Matriarch Aethyta.

I wasn't kidding when I said that Liara's father, Matriarch Aethyta, had a bar.  
  
It was a nice little hole in the wall, about as close as the Asari would ever get to a pub I think, not far from the government square. The Sontaran bombardment had not hit the building it was held in so there was no damage to clean up. Within a few days Aethyta herself was up and about again, with - granted - a bandage still on her injured head, and serving me a drink. I took a swig of it and almost spat it back out from the intensity of the flavor and the power. I managed to swallow it and nearly choked from the sheer burning sensation flowing down my throat, delivering what felt to be a solid blow to my forehead by way of nerve transference. "Don't tell me you're mixing ryncol in this?", I croaked.  
  
"That was Dad's favorite drink that wasn't ryncol," Aethyta replied. She chugged her own glass down. "I called it the Head Butt. Dad loved that."  
  
"Because it feels like a Krogan has just delivered one to your forehead?", I asked. I winced and put a hand to my aching forehead.  
  
"Exactly." Aethyta smirked. "So, what do you think?"  
  
"I think.... that I am happy I am a Time Lord and can handle the alcohol better than most species."  
  
"Ha!" Aethyta turned her head slightly. "Alright Liara. What about you?"  
  
Liara was busy holding her head. "I think," she sighed, "that I will leave the drinking to you two."  
  
"Come on, kid, you're a quarter Krogan, you can take it."  
  
Liara shook her head and said nothing.  
  
"So...." Aethyta started putting caps back on her drinks. "You came all this way for a drink?"  
  
"Just about," I answered. "And some conversation. I've been, well, I've been getting a bit lonely."  
  
"Lovebirds finally left?"  
  
I gave her a look. "Well, yes. I already told you about Jan and..." Realization dawned. "Oh, you mean... Listen, they're... Korra and Asami are like adopted sisters, there's nothing romantic about it."  
  
"Nice to know that even Time Lords can be completely oblivious," Aethyta needled.  
  
"Oi, not you too," I lamented. "I got enough of that from Jan and Cami."  
  
Aethyta chuckled. "They'd know, wouldn't they? I give it a year, tops, before your Avatar friend starts peeling her friend out of that jacket..."  
  
A groan came from Liara. "Dad...."  
  
"I'm not having this discussion," I interjected. "No. Not doing it."  
  
"Fine, fine." Aethyta finished capping the last bottle. She looked to Liara. "Hey, why don't you try it?"  
  
Liara looked up at her parent. "Try what?"  
  
"Traveling with the Doc over here," Aethyta said. "You can't tell me you're enjoying that information broker job these days. And you always loved getting out into the frontier."  
  
I kept my mouth shut at that point.  
  
Liara leveled a look at Aethyta. "Something else you picked up from years of spying on me?", she asked bluntly.  
  
"Maybe a little," Aethyta confessed. "But I didn't need to read your old journals to know how much you loved it out there."  
  
"That's comforting." There was still an edge in Liara's voice.  
  
Aethyta seemed to read Liara's mind. Or her thoughts, or something. "I've got some inventory work to finish. Let me know if you want anything else." She dropped a final bottle on the bar.  
  
Silence reigned. After several uncomfortable seconds I picked the bottle up. Serrice Ice Brandy. Quite good. I poured myself a glass and, at Liara's nod, poured her one as well. "Giving it more thought?", I asked.  
  
"Some, yes," she said.  
  
"It's your choice." I took a sip and enjoyed the flavor of the brandy. "Take all the time you need."  
  
"It's not about needing time," she said. "It's..." She drank a little of the brandy. "I want to get away from this. But I have obligations. Responsibilities. And..." Liara shook her head. "I owe it to Shepard to continue helping her in stabilizing the galaxy."  
  
"Quite understandable," I said. "But you know what I think?"  
  
I received a nod in reply, telling me to continue.  
  
"It's not just that. You.... care for Shepard."  
  
There was an uncertain, distant look in her eyes. "Yes."  
  
"And you're afraid of disappointing her. Of walking away from what you see as a commitment and leaving her without your support as the Shadow Broker." I sipped again. "So you're going to keep pushing yourself because that's what Shepard does, and you won't leave her to carry the burden alone." When I was answered with accepting silence, I continued. "Liara, Shepard wouldn't want you to wear yourself our. To wear away at the things that make you Liara. She'd want you to take time off rather than see the stress drive you into a disaster."  
  
I was treated with silence. "It's just..." Liara took another drink. "I need to think about it."  
  
"I understand. I won't push." I took another swig. "Well, I think I've had enough. Going to have a busy day tomorrow."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"The Asari fleet's finally arrived," I explained. "And I can put into play my plan to seal that ginormous Crack before anything else comes through." I stood to my feet and wobbled a little. Ugh. Aethyta and her Head Butt. I felt like collapsing.  
  
I returned to the TARDIS to sleep it off.  
  
  
  
  
The next day I was on the bridge of the _Destiny Ascension_. Matriarch Aresia, the new commander of the vessel, stood beside me. The veteran survivor of the Battle of Earth and the Fall of Thessia looked at me with her eyes, only one of which was organic. "Is this really going to work?"  
  
"Oh, it should," I answered. "My only worry was the conduits, but they should hold long enough." I looked out the main viewer and at the Crack that the Sontarans had come through. They hadn't sent any more missions through. Whether that meant they'd given up or they needed more time to get another force through, I wasn't sure. But it was best to get this done as quickly as possible. "Whenever you're ready, Matriarch."  
  
"Fine. Lieutenant T'Ryla, activate the emitter."  
  
A large device that had been assembled, by my direction, came to life. Twin bolts of light erupted from the massive middle bay of the Asari dreadnought and struck the Crack directly. I looked over at the display I'd set up. The Crack was still showing as manifested. "it may take a few minutes," I warned.  
  
"We're already getting overheating," one officer warned. "I'm not sure how much longer the emitter device can last."  
  
"It'll last long enough," I said, watching the colors shift down from purple. The Asari officers on the bridge remained tense as warnings went off of overheating in their systems, capacitors being given energy from the TARDIS they had never been built to withstand (there was only so much I could do to shore them up, after all).  
  
I was rewarded for the risk we took by the change in colors. Red, followed rapidly by orange and then by yellow, and all the while the white light splitting through the void of space narrowed. It finished narrowing with a little crackle of energy and was gone. I nodded to Aresia, who gave the order to turn the device off. I went back to the readings. "Looks like it worked," I said. The Crack is closed off from the main three dimensions." I looked to her. "Make sure your government has this section of space sealed off, Matriarch. The mass effect field of a ship shifting to FTL might cause enough of a gravitic distortion to tear the Crack open again."  
  
"Understood, Doctor." Aresia offered her hand. "On behalf of the Citadel Council and the Asari Republics, thank you for your assistance. We all owe you a debt."  
  
"You're welcome," I replied, accepting the handshake. When all was said and done, I returned to the TARDIS to disconnect her from the ship's systems and return to the planet below.  
  
  
  
  
The TARDIS door opened as I was finalizing the repairs on the TARDIS' control console. I looked up and saw Liara standing in the doorway. Aethyta was at a distance behind her, a half-grin on her face. I could also see a.... Drell, yes. Feron. I fought the urge to grin as I suspected her answer. "Yes?", I asked. "Made your decision, eh?"  
  
"Yes." Liara nodded and smiled. She reached beside the door and picked up a carrying case. I finally let myself smile as she stepped in. "I thought about what you said."  
  
"I see." I looked past her. "Feron, isn't it? Don't be shy, come on in and take a look around."  
  
The Drell operative did so, looking around the inside of the TARDIS. "It doesn't disappoint," he said. He looked back to me. "I only came to ask you to take care of Liara. I don't mind taking over as the Broker while she's gone. But I want her to come back."  
  
"Oh, don't worry about that," I replied. "I'll bring her back."  
  
"You'd damned well better," Aethyta said. "You get my girl hurt, Doc, and the only thing you'll get at my bar is a warp to the face."  
  
"I would imagine so," I said. I extended my hand to each in turn and said my goodbyes. Liara had evidently done so already and was putting her carrying case to the side. Nevertheless she came by to give her father a goodbye hug and a final handshake from Feron.  
  
I was waiting at the control console when she closed the door and walked back up the ramp. "Well." Liara drew in a breath. "Here I am."  
  
"Yes," I said. I smiled at her and kept my hearts from rushing too much. A Companion. I had a Companion again. "Well, it's nice to have you along, Liara."  
  
She grinned slightly. "I think it'll be interesting. Although given your record, I'm sure we'll be running into a lot of danger."  
  
"Oh, here and there," I admitted. "But I don't think it'll be that bad." I rounded the controls. I considered giving her that whole "Madman in a Box" speech but.... what point would that be? She knew what she was getting into. it wouldn't fit as well, honestly. Better to take a different approach. "So, where do you want to go first?"  
  
"I want to see something I haven't seen before," Liara said. "I want to remember what it was like when I was an archeologist traveling the fringes of the galaxy." The unspoken addendum, of course, was that she wanted to go back to those days. For now, for this trip, she wanted to forget she was the Shadow Broker. She wanted to reset things, to go back to an easier, simpler time for her. And a chance, perhaps, to consider her feelings for a certain dashing Human commander.  
  
Fair enough.  
  
So I smiled at Liara. "You want me to turn back time for you," I clarified. "Bring you back to when you were Doctor T'Soni, Prothean specialist and archeologist. Fair enough. Oh, quite fair," I said, clapping my hands together. I eyed the controls and began twisting knobs. "A good thing I'm a time traveler, right? Because I think I can do that. Oh, yes, I think I can do that quite easily."  
  
Our smiles started to match one another's. I put my hand on the lever. "All right, Doctor T'Soni," I said. "Time to see something new."  
  
Liara nodded at me. Her eyes twinkled like twin sapphires, full of life, full of anticipation. "Yes," she said.  
  
And nothing else need be said.  
  
I pulled the lever.  
  
As always, there was a _VWORP VWORP VWORP_. And, again, I couldn't resist myself. I had to say it. As cliched, as... positively, stereotypically English as it was, I had to say it.  
  
" _ **Tally ho!**_ "  
  



End file.
